{{Short description|Singaporean footballer}} {{Malay name|Zaiful Nizam|Abdullah}} {{Use British English|date=November 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Zaiful Nizam | image = DPMM-Hougang United 4 August 2023 (Players) 27.jpg | image_size = | caption = Zaiful with Hougang in 2023 | fullname = Zaiful Nizam bin Abdullah | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|07|24|df=yes}} | birth_place = Singapore | height = {{height|m=1.75}} | position = [[Goalkeeper (association football)|Goalkeeper]] | currentclub = [[Tanjong Pagar United]] | clubnumber = | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = [[National Football Academy (Singapore)|National Football Academy]] | years1 = 2006–2012 | clubs1 = [[Gombak United]] | caps1 = 81 | goals1 = 0 | years2 = 2013–2021 | clubs2 = [[Balestier Khalsa FC|Balestier Khalsa]] | caps2 = 231 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 2021–2022 | clubs3 = [[Geylang International FC|Geylang International]] | caps3 = 32 | goals3 = 0 | years4 = 2023–2025 | clubs4 = [[Hougang United]] | caps4 = 67 | goals4 = 0 | nationalyears1 = 2022 | nationalteam1 = [[Singapore national under-23 football team|Singapore SEA Games]] | nationalcaps1 = 4 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | nationalyears2 = 2015–2022 | nationalteam2 = [[Singapore national football team|Singapore]] | nationalcaps2 = 5 | nationalgoals2 = 0 | club-update = 19 August 2017 | nationalteam-update = 24 December 2022 | goals5 = 0 | caps5 = 11 | clubs5 = [[Tanjong Pagar United]] | years5 = 2025– }}
'''Zaiful Nizam bin Abdullah''' (born 24 July 1987), better known as '''Zaiful Nizam''' or just '''Zaiful''', is a Singaporean professional [[association football|footballer]] who most recently played as a [[goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] for [[Singapore Premier League]] club [[Tanjong Pagar United FC|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|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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Balestier Khalsa - Zaiful Nizam|url=http://balestierkhalsafc.com/about-the-team/s-league-squad/player/1/266|publisher=Balestier Khalsa FC|access-date=19 July 2014|archive-date=17 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717024400/http://balestierkhalsafc.com/about-the-team/s-league-squad/player/1/266|url-status=dead}}</ref> He made his 100 capped in the first match of the [[2017 S.League]] fixtures against [[Warriors FC|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.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Migration |date=2014-11-07 |title=Football: Balestier Khalsa wins first S'pore Cup with 3-1 win over holders Home United {{!}} The Straits Times |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-balestier-khalsa-wins-first-spore-cup-with-3-1-win-over-holders-home-united |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=www.straitstimes.com |language=en}}</ref>
During the [[2021 Singapore Premier League]], Zaiful started in 13 out 15 matches for Balestier.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Auto |first=Hermes |date=2021-08-17 |title=Football: Balestier suspend captain Zaiful Nizam for 'refusal to play' in SPL game {{!}} The Straits Times |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-balestier-suspends-captain-zaiful-nizam-for-refusal-to-play-in-spl-game |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=www.straitstimes.com |language=en}}</ref>
On 14 August 2021 against a match against the [[Young Lions FC|Young Lions]], Zaiful who was on the bench, refused to substitute with the playing goalkeeper, [[Zacharial Leong]] during half-time.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Auto |first=Hermes |date=2021-08-28 |title=Football: Ex-Balestier goalie Zaiful regrets refusing to play, looks forward to new role with Geylang {{!}} The Straits Times |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-ex-balestier-goalie-zaiful-regrets-refusing-to-play-looks-forward-to-new |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=www.straitstimes.com |language=en}}</ref> Balestier was down 4-0 at half-time.<ref name=":0" /> He was subsequently suspended by the club following the match.<ref name=":0" /> On 19 August, Balestier Khalsa terminated Zaiful.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=cue |date=2022-10-25 |title=Football: Geylang's Zaiful Nizam wins SPL's Golden Glove at 35 {{!}} The Straits Times |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-geylang-s-zaiful-nizam-wins-spl-s-golden-glove-at-35 |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=www.straitstimes.com |language=en}}</ref> During an interview, Zaiful revealed that he refused to substitute Leong to encourage him and regretted refusing to play.<ref name=":2" />
=== Geylang International === On 27 August 2021, Geylang International announced the signing of Zaiful as part of their goalkeeping squad.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Auto |first=Hermes |date=2021-08-27 |title=Football: Goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam joins Geylang International a week after being cut by Balestier Khalsa {{!}} The Straits Times |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-goalkeeper-zaiful-nizam-joins-geylang-international-a-week-after-being-cut |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=www.straitstimes.com |language=en}}</ref>
In 2022, Zaiful won the Golden Glove during the [[Singapore Premier League Awards Night|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.<ref name=":1" />
=== Hougang United === Zaiful was unveiled as a [[Hougang United FC|Hougang United]] player on 17 January 2023 on the club's social medias. He made his debut on 19 February 2023 in the [[Singapore Community Shield|2023 Singapore Community Shield]] in a 3-0 loss against Albirex Niigata. During the [[2023–24 AFC Cup]] group stage match against Malaysian side, [[Sabah F.C. (Malaysia)|Sabah]] on 21 August 2023, Zaiful put on a <nowiki>''Man of the Match''</nowiki> performances during a heavy rain weather. On 4 June 2025, the club announced that Zaiful will depart the club after a 2 year stint with the Cheetahs.
=== Tanjong Pagar United === On 4 July 2025, Zaiful signed with [[Tanjong Pagar United FC|Tanjong Pagar United]].
==International career== Zaiful got his first international call up by [[Singapore national football team|Singapore]]'s head coach [[Bernd Stange]] for friendlies against [[Bangladesh national football team|Bangladesh]] and [[Brunei national football team|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 national football team|Fiji]] on 11 September 2018, replacing [[Hassan Sunny]] in the 60th minute.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.fourfourtwo.com/sg/features/singapore-put-two-past-fiji-record-first-win-under-fandi-ahmad?page=0,1|title=Singapore put two past Fiji to record first win under Fandi Ahmad|date=2018-09-11|work=FourFourTwo|access-date=2018-09-11|language=en-SG|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911191358/https://www.fourfourtwo.com/sg/features/singapore-put-two-past-fiji-record-first-win-under-fandi-ahmad?page=0,1|archive-date=11 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Zaiful then collected his 3rd cap and pulled off a series of stunning saves against [[Oman national football team|Oman]] in the [[2019 Airmarine Cup|2019 AIRMARINE Cup]] Final.<ref name="fas.org.sg">{{Cite web|url=https://www.fas.org.sg/zulfahmi-stunner-earns-lions-draw-against-oman|title=Zulfahmi stunner earns Lions draw against Oman - Football Association of Singapore|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-24}}</ref>
Zaiful made his third appearance for the national team on 23 March 2019, against [[Oman national football team|Oman]] in the finals of the [[2019 Airmarine Cup|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.<ref name="fas.org.sg"/>
Zaiful was selected for the [[2022 AFF Championship|2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup]] that took place in December 2022. In the opening match for the Lions against [[Myanmar national football team|Myanmar]], he was in the starting line up following first-choice Hassan Sunny's red card in the previous tournament. In the 74' min, He assisted [[Shawal Anuar]] for the winning goal with a long punt that cemented Singapore's 3–2 win. He became the first goalkeeper to get an assist in the history of the tournament .
==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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fas.org.sg/newsroom/press-release/singapore-selection-squad-sultan-selangor%E2%80%99s-cup-revealed |title=SINGAPORE SELECTION SQUAD FOR THE SULTAN OF SELANGor's CUP REVEALED | the Football Association of Singapore |access-date=2 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628215629/http://fas.org.sg/newsroom/press-release/singapore-selection-squad-sultan-selangor%E2%80%99s-cup-revealed |archive-date=28 June 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Personal life == Zaiful has two children.<ref name=":2" />
==Career statistics== ===Club=== {{updated|match played 19 Mar 2022}}. Caps and goals may not be correct.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|League !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="2"|[[S.League]] !colspan="2"|[[Singapore Cup]] !colspan="2"|[[Singapore League Cup|Singapore<br />League Cup]] !colspan="2"|[[Asian Football Confederation|Asia]] !colspan="2"|Total |- !Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="5"| [[Gombak United FC|Gombak United]] |rowspan="5"|[[S.League]] |[[2009 S.League|2009]] |3||0||-||-||-||-||colspan='2'|—||3||0 |- |[[2010 S.League|2010]] |22||0||1||0||2||0||colspan='2'|—||25||0 |- |[[2011 S.League|2011]] |14||0||2||0||2||0||colspan='2'|—||18||0 |- |[[2012 S.League|2012]] |21||0||6||0||3||0||colspan='2'|—||30||0 |- !Total !60!!0!!9!!0!!7!!0!!0!!0!!81!!0 |- |rowspan="10"| [[Balestier Khalsa FC|Balestier Khalsa]] |rowspan="5"| S.League |[[2013 S.League|2013]] |22||0||6||0||3||0||colspan='2'|—||31||0 |- |[[2014 S.League|2014]] |27||0||6||0||4||0||colspan='2'|—||37||0 |- |[[2015 S.League|2015]] |27||0||2||0||4||0||6||0|||39||0 |- |[[2016 S.League|2016]] |23||0||5||0||0||0||6||0|||34||0 |- |[[2017 S.League|2017]] |0||0||0||0||0||0||colspan='2'|—||0||0 |- |rowspan="5"| [[Singapore Premier League]] |[[2018 Singapore Premier League|2018]] |24||0||4||0||0||0||colspan='2'|—||28||0 |- |[[2019 Singapore Premier League|2019]] |5||0||0||0||0||0||colspan='2'|—||5||0 |- |[[2020 Singapore Premier League|2020]] |14||0||0||0||0||0||colspan='2'|—||14||0 |- |[[2021 Singapore Premier League|2021]] |15||0||0||0||0||0||colspan='2'|—||13||0 |- !Total !155!!0!!23!!0!!11!!0!!12!!0!!231!!0 |- |rowspan="3"| [[Geylang International]] |rowspan="3"| Singapore Premier League |[[2021 Singapore Premier League|2021]] |3||0||0||0||0||0||colspan='2'|—||3||0 |- |[[2022 Singapore Premier League|2022]] |25||0||3||0||0||0||colspan='2'|—||28||0 |- !Total !28!!0!!3!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!32!!0 |- |rowspan="3"| [[Hougang United]] |rowspan="3"| Singapore Premier League |[[2023 Singapore Premier League|2023]] |22||0||6||0||1||0||5||0||34||0 |- |[[2024–25 Singapore Premier League|2024–25]] |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- !Total !22!!0!!6!!0!!1!!0!!5!!0!!34!!0 |- ! colspan=3 |Career Total !266!!0!!41!!0!!19!!0!!17!!0!!463!!0 |}
===International===
{{Updated|19 September 2023}} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !colspan=3|[[Singapore national football team|Singapore national team]] |- !Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |2015||1||0 |- |2016||0||0 |- |2017||0||0 |- |2018||1||0 |- |2019 |1 |0 |- |2023 |2 |0 |- !Total||5||0 |}
==Honours==
=== Clubs === '''Balestier Khalsa''' * [[Singapore Cup]]: [[2014 Singapore Cup|2014]]<ref name=":3" /> * [[Singapore League Cup|League Cup]]: [[2013 Singapore League Cup|2013]]<ref name="sw">{{soccerway|zaiful-nizam/101157}}</ref>
=== International === Singapore U17 * [[Lion City Cup]]: 2004 <ref>{{cite news |last1=Ho |first1=Stanley |date=21 June 2004 |title=Dazzling Cubs put on a show in Lion City Cup final |page=27 |newspaper=[[Today (Singapore newspaper)|Today]] |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Page.aspx?pageid=today20040621-1.1.27}}</ref>
=== Individual ===
* [[Singapore Premier League]] Golden Glove: 2022<ref name=":1" /> * [[Singapore Premier League]] Team of the Year: [[2022 Singapore Premier League|2022]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Balestier Khalsa FC squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaiful Nizam}} [[Category:1987 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Singaporean men's footballers]] [[Category:Men's association football goalkeepers]] [[Category:Gombak United FC players]] [[Category:Balestier Khalsa FC players]] [[Category:Singapore Premier League players]] [[Category:Singapore men's international footballers]] [[Category:Footballers at the 2021 SEA Games]] [[Category:SEA Games competitors for Singapore]] [[Category:Geylang International FC players]] [[Category:Hougang United FC players]]