Zaiful Nizam bin Abdullah (born 24 July 1987) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Singapore Premier League club Geylang International and the Singapore national team.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Zaiful Nizam bin Abdullah | ||
Date of birth | (1987-07-24) 24 July 1987 (age 35) | ||
Place of birth | Singapore | ||
Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Geylang International | ||
Number | 30 | ||
Youth career | |||
National Football Academy | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2006–2012 | Gombak United | 74 | (0) |
2013–2021 | Balestier Khalsa | 134 | (0) |
2021– | Geylang International | 5 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
2022 | Singapore SEA Games | 4 | (0) |
2015– | Singapore | 3 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 August 2017 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 March 2019 |
Zaiful began his professional football career with Gombak United in the S. League in 2006. His stint with the bulls ended after the club has dissolved in 2012.
In 2013, Zaiful signed for Balestier Khalsa and is the first choice and captain for the team.[1] He made his 100 capped in the first match of the 2017 S.League against Warriors. He almost scored a goal with a free kick when the team was losing 1–2 to Warriors, his free kick came close and hit the post and the game resulted to a loss.
On 16 August 2021, Balestier Khalsa confirmed that they have suspended Zaiful Nizam pending an internal disciplinary inquiry for his refusal to play against the Young Lions on 14 August 2021.
On 19 August 2021, Balestier Khalsa have terminated Zaiful's contract after his refusal to play incident.
Zaiful revealed that his refusal to play against Young Lions was to help fellow goalkeeper, Zacharial Leong, regain his confidence. In a Straits Time post, Zaiful said that he refusal to play was with the team's interest at heart by trying to support Leong from the sidelines.
On 27 August 2021, Geylang International announced the signing of Zaiful as part of their goalkeeping squad.
Zaiful got his first international call up by Singapore's head coach Bernd Stange for friendlies against Bangladesh and Brunei on 30 May and 6 June 2015 respectively. He made his international debut against Brunei on the 60th minute, replacing Izwan Mahbud.
He finally collected his second cap for the Lions in a friendly against Fiji on 11 September 2018, replacing Hassan Sunny in the 60th minute.[2] Zaiful then collected his 3rd cap and pulled off a series of stunning saves against Oman in the AIRMARINE Cup Final.[3]
Zaiful made his third appearance for the national team on 23 March 2019, against Oman in the finals of the AIRMARINE Cup 2019. He started the game and played the full 90 minutes. It eventually ended in a 1–1 draw but Singapore lost to Oman in penalties.[3]
He was selected as part of the Singapore Selection squad for The Sultan of Selangor's Cup to be held on 6 May 2017.[4]
Club | League | Season | S.League | Singapore Cup | Singapore League Cup |
Asia | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
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S.League | 2009 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | — | 3 | 0 | |
2010 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 25 | 0 | |||
2011 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |||
2012 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | |||
Total | 60 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 0 | ||
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S.League | 2013 | 22 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | |
2014 | 27 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | |||
2015 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
2016 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
Singapore Premier League | 2018 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | ||
2019 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |||
2020 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |||
2021 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |||
Total | 155 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 201 | 0 | ||
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Singapore Premier League | 2021 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |
2022 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
Total | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
Career Total | 222 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 283 | 0 | ||
Singapore national team | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
2015 | 1 | 0 |
2016 | 0 | 0 |
2017 | 0 | 0 |
2018 | 1 | 0 |
2019 | 1 | 0 |
Total | 3 | 0 |
Balestier Khalsa
Singapore U17
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