Khalifa Ayil Salim Al-Noufali ( ar, خليفه عايل سالم النوفلي; born 1 March 1984), commonly known as Khalifa Ayil, is an

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for

Bowsher Club Bosher Club is an Omani football club based in Bosher, Oman. The club is currently playing in the Oman Professional League, top division of Oman Football Association. Their home ground is Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, but they also recognize th ...

in the

Oman Professional League The Oman Professional League ( ar, دوري المحترفين عمان; known as the ''Omantel Professional League'' for sponsorship reasons), previously known as the Omantel Elite League, is the top division of the Oman Football Association, an ...

Club career

Khalifa began his career with

Oman Club Oman Club ( ar, نادي عمان; also known locally as ''Al-Ahmar'', "The Red(s)" or simply as Oman) is an Omani football club based in Muscat. The club is currently playing in the First Division League of Oman Football Association. Their home ...

. He quickly became a first team player for the club and after some fantastic showings he moved to a new club

Al-Riyadh Al-Riyadh Saudi Club () is a football team based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that is currently playing in the Saudi Second Division (third level). It was established in 1953 as Ahli Al-Riyadh, then changed to Al-Yamamah and finally to Al-Riyadh. ...

based in

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. He continued to make some impressive appearances and was quickly sought out by

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

i club

Al-Sadd Sports Club Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd (Qatar), Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, whic ...

which resulted in a promising deal at the club. After his impressive appearances for

, Europe soon came calling for the Omani international. At first he was wanted by

Arsenal FC Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (inclu ...

but Al-Sadd refused to deal with the club. He then went on a trial to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

for

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

where a potential loan deal could be sorted out. He fell out with the Al-Sadd management and board of directors by failing to give him his dream. It was mooted around that Celta wanted to take him first on loan with a view to playing him in the reserves and then consider a permanent transfer if the player was then eligible for a transfer to the Spanish club. However, he left Celta in August 2008 with his future very much up in the air. In 2009, he joined top Saudi Arabian football team

Al-Ittifaq Al Ettifaq Football Club ( ar, نادي الاتفاق لكرة القدم) is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Al-Ettifaq was established after the merging of three clubs in the city of Dammam at the year 1944. Al Ettifaq i ...

. Later in the same year he came back to

and signed a deal with Al-Ahli SC. In 2010, he played for

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

i club

Al-Kuwait SC Kuwait Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الكويت الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Kuwait City. The football team has won Kuwaiti Premier League 17 times. Kuwait SC also has over 50 trophies in Kuwaiti Club foot ...

and then after one year played for

Al-Raed Al Raed Saudi Football Club ( ''Nādī ar-Rāʾid'', "Pioneer Club") is a Saudi football club based in Buraidah, and the first of its kind in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. One of the club's notable founders is Abdulaziz Al-Aboudi. Established ...

for almost one season. After successful stints at various clubs in the GCC he came back to his home country and signed a deal with

i giants

Dhofar The Dhofar Governorate ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ظُفَار, Muḥāfaẓat Ẓufār) is the largest of the 11 Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah Gov ...

. Just after one season in June 2013, Ayil signed a deal with Al-Nahda Club. On 30 September 2014, he signed a one-year contract with

of the

Club career statistics

International career

Gulf Cup of Nations

Amad has made appearances in the

2003 Gulf Cup of Nations The 16th Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, كأس الخليج العربي) was held in Kuwait, between 26 December 2003 to 11 January 2004. All matches were played Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium. Yemen made their debut in the Arabian Gulf Cup. Iraq conti ...

, the

2004 Gulf Cup of Nations The 17th Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, كأس الخليج العربي) was held in Doha, Qatar in 2004. It marked the return of the Iraqi National team back to the competition, following the fall of Saddam Hussein. Qatar turned out the victors and ...

, the

2007 Gulf Cup of Nations The 18th Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, was the كأس الخليج العربي) 18th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup. It took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 17 to 30 January 2007. The tournament was won by hosts UAE, who beat neighbo ...

and the

2009 Gulf Cup of Nations The 19th Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, كأس الخليج العربي) was the nineteenth edition of the biannual Gulf Cup competition, and took place in Muscat, Oman, from 4 to 17 January 2009 and was won by Oman for the first time in its history, ...

. He scored a goal in the

in a 3-1 win over

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

hence helping his country to reach the semi-finals and then the finals of the

Gulf Cup of Nations The Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, كأس الخليج العربي, ''Kass Al-Khaleej Al-Arabi''), often referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nat ...

for the first time. But Oman lost in the final to the hosts,

in a penalty shootout after the goalkeeping sensation

Ali Al-Habsi Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi ( ar, علي بن عبد الله بن حارب الحبسي; born 30 December 1981) is an Omani retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Early career Al-Habsi was born in Oman and star ...

missed a penalty.

won the match 6-5 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1 at normal time.

Amad Al-Hosni Imad Ali Suleiman Al-Hosni ( ar, عماد علي سليمان الحوسني; born 18 July 1984), commonly known as Imad Al-Hosni or Al-Amda, is an Omani footballer who last played for Fanja SC in the Oman Professional League. Club career Al- ...

was awarded with the "Top Goal Scorer" award of the competition.

AFC Asian Cup

Khalifa has made appearances in the

2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification The qualification process for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup football competition began in March 2003. Out of the 45 AFC members, only Cambodia and the Philippines failed to enter for the tournament. Both China, the hosts and Japan, the reigning champion ...

, the

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

, the

2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification The 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification was held in late 2005 and the final qualification round was held from February to November 2006 with 25 nations participating. For the first time, the defending champions (Japan), did not earn an automatic ...

and the

2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification The 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification saw various countries take part to determine 10 spots to the final tournament in Qatar under the new qualification system set by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Six other teams also qualified for th ...

. He scored a goal in the

in a 1-2 loss against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Oman failed to qualify for the

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the fifte ...

FIFA World Cup qualification

Khalifa has made five appearances in the

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South Americ ...

and five in the

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

. He scored a brace in the Second Round of 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification in a 7-0 win over

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

National team career statistics

Goals for senior national team

:''Scores and results list Oman's goal tally first.''

Style of play

Khalifa is naturally a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, although he is a versatile player and can play as a defensive

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

too. Due to his aggressiveness, he has had a few disciplinary problems in his career. He is known for his spectacular long range shooting skills which he has demonstrated at both the club and country level on a regular basis.

Honours

Club

*With Al-Kuwait **

Kuwait Crown Prince Cup The Crown Prince Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) is a Kuwaiti domestic annual football competition created in 1994. Previous winners *1994 : Kuwait SC *1995 : Kazma SC *1996 : Al Arabi SC *1997 : Al Arabi SC *1998 : Qadsia SC *1999 : Al Ar ...

(1):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

*With

Al-Nahda The Nahda ( ar, النهضة, translit=an-nahḍa, meaning "the Awakening"), also referred to as the Arab Awakening or Enlightenment, was a cultural movement that flourished in Arabic-speaking regions of the Ottoman Empire, notably in Egypt, Leb ...

(1): 2013-14 **

Sultan Qaboos Cup The Sultan Qaboos Cup ( ar, كأس السلطان قابوس), also known as the HM's Cup, is Oman's premier knockout tournament for men's football. It was officially created in 1972 and the champions of that edition were Al-Ahli. Shortly known a ...

(0): Runner-up

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

* *
Khalifa Ayil
at Goal.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayil Salim Al-Noufali, Khalifa 1984 births Living people Omani footballers Oman international footballers Omani expatriate footballers Association football defenders 2004 AFC Asian Cup players Oman Club players Al-Riyadh SC players Al Sadd SC players Ettifaq FC players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Kuwait SC players Al-Raed FC players Dhofar Club players Al-Nahda Club (Oman) players Bowsher Club players Saudi Professional League players Qatar Stars League players Oman Professional League players Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Omani expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Qatar Omani expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Oman People from Muscat, Oman Omani expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Kuwait Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Kuwait