Hassan Sunny

This is a Malay name; the name Sunny is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Hassan.
Hassan Sunny
Personal information
Full nameHassan bin Abdullah Sunny[1]
Date of birth2 April 1984
Place of birthSingapore
Height1.84 m (6 ft 12 in)
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Club information
Current team
Army United
Number18
Youth career
2000–2002National Football Academy
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2003Geylang United31(0)
2004–2005Young Lions36(0)
2006–2007Geylang United52(0)
2008–2011Tampines Rovers51(0)
2012–2014Warriors67(0)
2015–Army United3(0)
National team
2004–Singapore48(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 April 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:45, 29 November 2014 (UTC)

Hassan bin Abdullah Sunny (born 2 April 1984) is a professional footballer who plays for Army United in the Thai Premier League and the Singapore national team as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Along with Baihakki Khaizan, Shahril Ishak and Khairul Amri, Hassan was in the pioneer batch of the National Football Academy in 2000.[2]

Hassan has previously played for S.League clubs Tampines Rovers, Geylang United and Young Lions.

According to an interview with him done in November 2007, he only started playing football competitively when he was 10, captaining his school, May Primary School. He later went on to represent Braddell Secondary School football team as well.

Hassan started out in football as a midfielder, only switching to between the sticks due to an asthma attack he suffered when he was 12. He also quipped that his happiest football memory was that, back in 1999, he scored the winning goal from the halfway line in a game that ended 2-1.[3]

Hassan joined the Eagles from the Singapore U-18 team and quickly cemented his spot in the first team, earning an S.League Young Player of the Year nomination for his confident performances and knack of pulling off blinding saves.

In December 2011, Hassan joined SAFFC, after four years of service as Tampines Rovers' first-choice goalkeeper.

Hassan became the first goalkeeper to win the S.League Player of the Year award in 2014.[4]

Hassan joined Army United F.C. for the 2015 Thai Premier League season. He made his debut in a 1-0 win over Royal Thai Navy F.C..[5]

International career

A graduate of the National Football Academy, Hassan forced his way into the Singapore against India after a superb debut season with Geylang United in 2003.

With midfielder Shahril Ishak, defender Baihakki Khaizan and winger Muhammad Ridhuan, he is part of the 'NFA Gang of Four', the quartet which has played together since their early teenage years and earned senior international honours in 2003.

He kept goal for the U-23 team that participated in the 2003 South-East Asian Games in Vietnam, before joining the Young Lions for the 2004 S.League season.

His first appearance in a Lions shirt came in August 2003 when the young keeper replaced Rezal Hassan at half-time in a friendly against the Japan Olympic team.

He had to wait until 18 February 2004 for his first cap for the Singapore though, which came against India in a World Cup qualifier.

He has been a regular fixture in the national team, though only as a substitute for Lionel Lewis . However, due to his poor performances in the Merdeka Cup in 2007 with the Under-23 team, he was dropped for the friendly against UAE and Jasper Chan was called up in his place.

His fine display at the 2007 SEA Games helped the Singapore Under-23 squad win the bronze medal - their first SEA Games medal since 1995.

He performed extremely well in a World Cup Qualifier match against Saudi Arabia, but Singapore lost the match 2-0.

On 28 July 2008, Hassan played the first half as part of a Singapore Selection side in a friendly match against the Brazil Olympics Team and made outstanding saves against Diego and Alexandre Pato '​s shots, letting in only three goals.

On November 30, 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, Sunny has become a subject of controversy after failing to defend his goalpost from Malaysian counterattack. Malaysia which leading 1-2 finishes the match with open-goal scoring, making the final result of the match 1-3, Sunny has become a subject of parody in the aftermath of the game by Malaysian fans.

Honours

International

Singapore

Individual

References

  1. "Announcement of squad for AFF Suzuki Cup 2014". Football Association of Singapore. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  2. "Interview With Baihakki Khaizan". FAS. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  3. "At first, i didn't like football..."
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Awards night signals end of 2014 S.League season". S.League. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  5. Paul Murphy (16 February 2015). "Singapore keeper Sunny's Thailand debut quietens the doubters". ESPNFC. Retrieved 17 February 2015.

External links