Introduction
Zaiful Nizam bin Abdullah (born 24 July 1987) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for S.League club Balestier Khalsa and the Singapore national team. He is also the captain of Balestier Khalsa.
Club career
Gombak United
Zaiful began his professional football career with Gombak United in the S. League in 2009.
Balestier Khalsa
In 2013, Zaiful signed for Balestier Khalsa and is the first choice and captain for the team. 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 he post and the game resulted to a loss.
International career
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. Zaiful then collected his 3rd cap and pulled off a series of stunning saves against Oman in the AIRMARINE Cup Final.
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.
Others
Singapore Selection Squad
He was selected as part of the Singapore Selection squad for The Sultan of Selangor's Cup to be held on 6 May 2017.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played November 2016. Caps and goals may not be correct.
| Club | Season | S.League | Singapore Cup | SingaporeLeague Cup | Asia | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Gombak United | 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 | |
| Balestier Khalsa | 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 | ||
| 2018 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 128 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 174 | 0 | |
| Career Total | 188 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 250 | 0 | |
International
- As of 24 March 2019
| Singapore national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 3 | 0 |
Honours
Balestier Khalsa
- Singapore Cup: 2014
- League Cup: 2013
Singapore U17
- Lion City Cup: 2004