SINGAPORE – Over his 21-year career, national goalkeeper Hassan Sunny has earned the plaudits both at home and abroad, played for title-winning sides and gone through many campaigns.
Yet, the 39-year-old still has found “a lot to learn” from his new club Albirex Niigata, who have won the Singapore Premier League (SPL) five times in the last seven years.
The national custodian, who joined the Japanese outfit from the Lion City Sailors last December, believes Albirex’s dominance can be attributed to their winning mentality.
“I am very happy here at Albirex,” said the seasoned player, who turned out for six SPL clubs and had two stints with Thai side Army United (2015-16 and 2018-19).
“The mentality is different because here they don’t like to lose, not even in training. Even in an internal match, they don’t want to be on the losing side.
“It’s not that they will have a go at each other but, when they taste defeat, they will be angry at themselves. So the biggest difference is their winning mentality and I’m learning a lot from them in terms of building my mental strength.”
Albirex coach Kazuaki Yoshinaga believes it also works the other way, with his younger charges learning from the Singapore No. 1.
Praising Hassan’s influence, the three-time SPL coach of the Year said: “Hassan is the most professional player in this country. His attitude to training, his preparation for training in terms of meal, nutrition and conditioning management (makes him a) role model. If more local players grow up watching him, Singapore will be in the World Cup.”
Hassan knows that as a senior in the team, the younger ones will look up to him. He is also making an effort to pick up conversational Japanese from his teammates, even though hand signals often suffice on the pitch, as he believes “football is a global language”. In exchange, he teaches them simple English phrases.
On Saturday, he will be aiming for his sixth clean sheet in nine games this season when Albirex travel to the Jalan Besar Stadium to face a struggling Hougang United side. This will be the first game as Cheetahs’ coach for Marko Kraljevic, who replaced Firdaus Kassim after a string of six straight defeats saw them slump to the bottom of the table.
While Yoshinaga refused to underestimate Hougang’s threat, Kraljevic said: “We have been working on getting our confidence back, sticking together and trying to play as team. All our available players are working very hard and we need to improve at both ends – concede fewer goals and score more goals.
“It will be a tough game playing against the best defence and attack in the league.”
As a mainstay in the SPL’s stingiest backline that has conceded only thrice in eight games, Hassan will be aiming to help them retain their crown, which would be his third after clinching the 2014 and 2021 titles with the Warriors and Sailors respectively.
He turns 40 next year, but has no intention of hanging up his gloves any time soon.
“I’m more than happy at Albirex if they decide to extend my contract,” Hassan added. “But of course, I’m always trying to improve myself. If overseas offers are good, I will still try to play overseas. Because I’m not thinking about retirement at the moment and I want to play on for as long as possible.”
Geylang v Lion City Sailors (Sunday, 6pm, Our Tampines Hub)
After a three-week break, the Sailors will be looking to return to winning ways after being held 1-1 by the Young Lions last time out. A win for fifth-placed Geylang International, who have four victories from eight matches, will see them go level on points with the Sailors, who are third in the table.
Brunei DPMM v Tanjong Pagar United (Sunday, 6pm, Jalan Besar)
Both sides have struggled recently so expect a tightly contested affair. Brunei DPMM won the reverse fixture 2-1 and will be hoping to record a similar result to leapfrog Tanjong Pagar United into sixth place.
