KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny will have more money to save after "saving" the China football team on Tuesday.
His 11 saves in a World Cup qualifier against Thailand enabled China to squeeze into the next round on goal difference.
China's hopes of reaching the next stage were hanging by a thread after a 1-0 defeat to South Korea in Seoul on Tuesday. Thailand then needed to beat Singapore by three goals in Bangkok to leapfrog China and snatch second place in Group C, which would have ended China's World Cup hopes.
But 40-year-old Hassan's heroics saw him restricting Thailand to only a 3-1 win.
And grateful Chinese fans now want to send the Singaporean money.
Chinese fans have been flocking to Hassan's restaurant, Dapur Hassan, in Tampines, Singapore. And the stall's Alipay account has been receiving numerous deposits from China in specific sums using the digits "520," which is a homophone for "I love you" in Mandarin, symbolising their appreciation and affection for Hassan.
