China's real MVP

Thanks to his impressive performances, Singapore's goalie Sunny, who pulled together 11 saves to deny a frantic Thailand from scoring a crucial fourth, went viral on Chinese social media immediately after the match for "single-handedly safeguarding Team China's qualifying hopes", according to posts by Chinese fans.

After the game, Sunny's personal social media account has been flooded with thank-you messages. The goalie runs a stall selling Muslim food, such as Malaysian coconut milk rice in Singapore. Some Chinese fans posted the pictures and address of Sunny's stall, calling for Chinese tourists to visit it and give it "five-star" reviews.

According to Chinese online travel agency Ctrip, as of Wednesday lunchtime, over 20 percent of car-hailing services from Singapore Changi International Airport ordered by Chinese visitors were destined for Sunny's food stall.

In response to Chinese fans' heartfelt gratitude, Sunny said "Thank you, China" in a short video posted by his teammates after the game. One of his teammates can be heard in the video saying "he saved China".

The social media accounts of the Singaporean Embassy to China and of the Singapore Tourism Board on China's social-networking platform Weibo also received a flurry of thank-you messages from fans.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn