Rilwan Waheed

Rilwan Waheed is a Maldivian professional footballer. Nicknamed "Riley", he plays as a winger for Buru Sports Club and the Maldives national team.

Club career

Club Valencia

2006 & 2007 season Rilwan signed with Club Valencia at the age of 15 in 2006, but the FAM rules did not allow him to play at senior level football. In the following year 2007, at the age of 16, he started playing in the 1st Division. They lost the match 3–4 to Yemen's Al-Tilal. Victory's second goal of the match was scored by captain Shafiu Ahmed, a header from a corner kick cross taken by Rilwan.

In his first season playing for Victory, he made 16 appearances in the League and ended the season as runners-up. They were also the runners-up of President's Cup, losing 2–1 to New Radiant where Rilwan failed to score in the penalty shoot-out, and Charity Shield losing 1–0 to VB Addu FC in the extra time.

New Radiant Sports Club

2013 season On 24 October 2013, Rilwan agreed to join New Radiant under two-year contract. He was assigned the number 8 shirt.

Rilwan made his debut for New Radiant in the MILO Charity Shield match where they won 3–1 against Maziya on 21 February 2013.

Rilwan had an impressive and also one of the successful season with New Radiant in 2013. He was a part of the squad which won the domestic quadruple in the Maldives with a remarkable 100% winning record for the first time in the Maldives. He won his first FA Cup in the 2013 season, along with the 2013 Dhivehi League, 2013 President's Cup and the 2013 Charity Shield. Rilwan also played in the 2013 AFC Cup in which they reached the quarter-finals.

On 14 January 2014, New Radiant terminated the contract with Rilwan, with one year remaining, due to an argument with their captain Imran Mohamed during a practice session where Rilwan used offensive and abusive language towards Imran in front of other teammates and supporters. Rilwan was also fined by one month salary and asked to apologize the coach and his teammates during the month of May 2013, for actively participating in a futsal tournament held in Malaysia without the approval from the club.

Maziya Sports & Recreation Club

2014 season On 15 January 2014, the following day Rilwan's contract with New Radiant was terminated, he signed a one-year deal with Maziya Sports & Recreation Club.

On 11 March 2014, Rilwan made his Maziya debut in the 2014 AFC Cup group stage match against Selangor of Malaysia, where they managed to get a point with a 1–1 draw at home. He was sent off during his first league game of the season, where the match ended 2–2 against B.G. Sports Club on 19 June with two cautions. He missed one match due to suspension and played his next match against his former club Victory, on 6 July and provided two assists; for Ashad Ali and Riste Naumov. The match ended with huge 5–1 win.

On 3 August 2014, during the 1–0 league win against his former club New Radiant, his knee got injured and was out for approximately three months.

Return to New Radiant Sports Club

2015 season On 18 December 2014, Rilwan completed his return to the club and signed a two-year contract and claimed his number 8 shirt.

Rilwan made his official return debut against Lao Toyota FC in the 2015 AFC Cup on 11 March 2015, coming into play as a substitute at half-time. They won the match by 2–1. On 20 April, Rilwan was sent-off in the first league game of the season against Victory, where they won by 3–1, after the foul he committed to Ahmed Ziyan. He was later suspended for two league games with a fine of MVR 4000 regarding the incident. On 8 July 2015, during his first game after returning from suspension, Rilwan conceded a penalty for a handball against Valencia, but won the game by 3–1. Rilwan scored his first New Radiant goal, on 16 July against Club Eagles, taking the lead in the fourth minute but ending the match with a 1–1 draw. On 26 September, Rilwan scored the opening goal again, against Club Eagles but this time in the President's Cup semi-finals. They ended the match with a 2–1 win, advancing to the President's Cup final. Rilwan scored his second league goal against Maziya on 20 October, where he scored the only goal of the match, collecting Mohamed Rasheed's long through ball inside the penalty box and volleyed it over goalkeeper Pavel Matyash.

2016 season On 22 February 2016, Rilwan was assigned as the joint vice captain of New Radiant with Ahmed Niyaz, under the captaincy of Mohamed Rasheed.

On 23 February, Rilwan scored in the season debut against Balestier Khalsa in the 2016 AFC Cup group stage match. He came into play as a substitute in the 69th minute and scored in the dying second of the game to level the score 2–2.

International career

Under-23 Rilwan was preceded as the captain of the Maldives national under-23 football team till the mid-2012 but later his captaincy was succeeded by Hassan Adhuham in the 2012 Rajapaksa International Trophy and he was given the vice-captaincy of the team. Rilwan scored the opening goal from a free kick and supplied a good long through ball to Asadhulla who curled in to the goal to score the second, in the 2012 Rajapaksa International Trophy Final against Pakistan to win Maldives national under-23 football team's first ever gold medal.

Senior team Rilwan made his debut in a friendly match against Thailand on February 24, 2012

2012 AFC Challenge Cup was his first major tournament with the senior team and he played all the matches as a right back at 2012 AFC Challenge Cup for the Maldives. Their first goal of the tournament came with a header from a cross by Rilwan in to the penalty area of Turkmenistan. After the great performance in the tournament, he was one of the most hopeful young players in the Maldives, and also included in the Haveeru Sports Awards' best 5 players of 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. He is the only Maldivian player nominated for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup's best Under-21 player Award. He only featured in the game against Bhutan in the group stage match where they won 8–2, replacing Shafiu Ahmed for the final 10 minutes.

Career statistics

Club

Season Club Division League FA Cup President's Cup Charity Shield Others Asia Total Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists 2007 Valencia Dhivehi League 12 0 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 – 5 3 1 – 21 4 1 2008 6 0 0 3 2 0 2 0 1 – 2 0 0 – 13 2 1 2009 14 0 3 1 0 0 – 1 0 0 – 2 1 0 18 1 0 2010 14 1 6 3 0 0 – – – – 17 1 6 2011 14 1 1 1 0 0 – – – – 15 1 1 Valencia total 60 2 10 11 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 7 3 1 2 1 0 84 9 9 2012 Victory Dhivehi League 16 0 3 2 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 – 23 0 4 Victory total 16 0 3 2 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 – 23 0 4 2013 New Radiant Dhivehi League 17 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1 29 0 2 New Radiant total 17 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1 29 0 2 2014 Maziya Dhivehi League 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 11 0 2 Maziya total 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 11 0 2 2015 New Radiant Premier League 9 2 3 – 5 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 5 0 0 23 3 4 2016 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 – 6 1 0 10 1 0 New Radiant total 12 2 3 0 0 0 5 1 1 2 0 0 3 0 0 11 1 0 33 4 4 Career total 111 4 19 15 3 0 13 1 2 6 0 0 11 3 2 24 2 1 180 13 21

1.Maldivian Cup Winners Cup. 2.2012 AFC Cup qualifying play-off. 3.2015 POMIS Cup.

International

International goals

Under–23 Scores and results list Maldives U–23's goal tally first. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 9 November 2012 Jayathilake Sports Complex, Sri Lanka 0–1 1–2 2012 M. Rajapaksa Int'l Trophy Final

Awards and honours

Valencia Dhivehi League: 2008 President's Cup: 2008 FA Charity Shield: 2009 Maldives Cup Winners' Cup: 2007

Victory Youth Youth Championship: 2012

New Radiant FA Charity Shield: 2013 Dhivehi League: 2013 Dhivehi Premier League: 2015 Maldives FA Cup: 2013 President's Cup: 2013

Maziya Maldives FA Cup: 2014

Maldives U–23 Rajapaksa International Trophy: 2012

Individual 2012 Haveeru Sports Award for the best Under–23 footballer.