Zaiful Nizam

Zaiful Nizam bin Abdullah (born 24 July 1987), better known as Zaiful Nizam or just Zaiful, is a Singaporean professional footballer who most recently played as a goalkeeper for Singapore Premier League club Tanjong Pagar United.

Zaiful is the first goalkeeper to get an assist in the history of the AFF Championship tournament.

Club career Gombak United

Zaiful began his professional football career with Gombak United in the 2006 S. League. His stint with the bulls ended after the club has dissolved after the 2012 S.League season making 81 appearances in total.

Balestier Khalsa In 2013, Zaiful signed for Balestier Khalsa and is the first choice which he became the captain for the team. He made his 100 capped in the first match of the 2017 S.League fixtures 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 in a loss.

In 2014, Zaiful won the 2014 Singapore Cup with Balestier Khalsa.

During the 2021 Singapore Premier League, Zaiful started in 13 out 15 matches for Balestier.

On 14 August 2021 against a match against the Young Lions, Zaiful who was on the bench, refused to substitute with the playing goalkeeper, Zacharial Leong during half-time. Balestier was down 4-0 at half-time. During an interview, Zaiful revealed that he refused to substitute Leong to encourage him and regretted refusing to play.

In 2022, Zaiful won the Golden Glove during the 2022 Singapore Premier League Awards Night after keeping nine clean sheets during the 2022 Singapore Premier League season and was named in the Team of the Year. Zaiful then collected his 3rd cap and pulled off a series of stunning saves against Oman in the 2019 AIRMARINE Cup Final.

Zaiful made his third appearance for the national team on 23 March 2019, against Oman in the finals of the 2019 AIRMARINE Cup. 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.

Personal life Zaiful has two children.

International Singapore U17 Lion City Cup: 2004

Individual

Singapore Premier League Golden Glove: 2022 Singapore Premier League Team of the Year: 2022