Mohamed Faisal ( dv, މުޙައްމަދު ފައިސަލް; born 4 August 1988) is a Maldivian professional

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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Dhivehi Premier League Dhivehi Premier League is a Maldivian men's professional football league. At the top of the Maldives football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 10 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

club,

Club Valencia Club Valencia is a Maldivian football club based in Malé, Maldives. Nicknamed ''The Sunrisers'', the club competes in the Dhivehi Premier League, the top tier of Maldivian football. History The notion of establishing a football club named C ...

and the

Maldives national team Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

. Faisal began his career with

Club All Youth Linkage Club All Youth Linkage (Club AYL) is a Republic of the Maldives, Maldivian semi-professional football (soccer), football club based in Male, that competes in the Dhivehi League. References External linksOfficial fan page
at Facebook Footb ...

, made his debut as a teenager in 2006 Third Division. He started every match of the season in goal and secured promotion to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

football as league runner ups. In his second year, Faisal won both

and Dhivehi League (first division) in 2007 with Club AYL and

Victory Sports Club Victory Sports Club is a Maldivian sports club based in Malé and founded 3 July 1971, that includes a football team amongst other sports. Victory is one of the most successful football clubs in Maldives, winning a record 21 National Champion ...

while on loan. He also helped Club AYL promote to Dhivehi League for the first time in club's history. He later played for Victory, Valencia,

Club Eagles Club Eagles, formerly known as Eagles Malé, is a sports club based in Malé, Maldives. It is best known for its football team. The team were promoted to Dhivehi League in 2006 and relegated back to the Second Division the next season. They ...

, New Radiant and

Da Grande Sports Club Da Grande Amigos New Generation Sports Club, generally known as Da Grande Sports Club, is a Maldivian football club, that competes in the Dhivehi Premier League, the highest tier of Maldivian football. Club history The club won promotion to t ...

. He joined Valencia on a swap deal on deadline day 2020 from Da Grande Sports Club. Since his national team debut in 2009, he was mostly used as a back-up goalkeeper and earned number one spot following Imran Mohamed's retirement from international football. He led Maldives to win the 2018 SAFF Championship as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Club career

Born in Fenfushi, Maldives, Faisal started his playing career with

in 2006, where he helped the team gain promotion to top division from Third Division, during his four year at the club. During his first season, they gained promotion to

as 2006 Third Division runner-ups, also winning the best goalkeeper award. Faisal won

and Dhivehi League both in 2007. He first claimed 2007 Second Division with Club AYL but failed to get promoted to first division in the

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. He was then loaned to

for the rest of the season as their first choice Imran Mohamed got injured, and won first division with them. In 2008, Faisal earned another best goalkeeper award despite Club AYL were runner-ups of the 2008 Second Division. They also gained promotion to first division football, winning the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. Faisal left Club AYL to play for Victory SC in 2010, making his debut in the AFC Cup against Indonesian club

Sriwijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th ...

. He won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

in his first two seasons. In 2012, Faisal fractured a bone in his left ankle in the AFC Cup qualifying round against Al-Tilal which sidelined him for five months.Eagles keeper injured
at Sun Online (Archived) On 2 November 2012, Faisal signed for

on a one year deal for the 2013 season. Faisal became a

player on 25 February 2014. Faisal helped Club Eagles, qualify to the President's Cup for the first time in the club's history, after securing third in the league. They reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

where they lost to the only goal which came in the extra time. On 9 April 2015, Faisal suffered an ACL injury during the pre season trainings with Club Eagles. After a gap of one season without a game, Faisal returned for Club Valencia on 7 January 2016. They became the ultimate champions of the 2016 FA Cup, defeating the league runner ups TC Sports Club in the

, ending a trophy drought of 8 years for the club. On 25 July 2017, Faisal joined New Radiant as Club Valencia failed to secure a top 4 spot in 2017 Malé League. He won a

domestic treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

in 2017, winning the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

and the

. He also won the Malé League with New Radiant in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

. Faisal signed for

on 28 May 2019. He spent one season with the club until returning to Club Valencia for the third time, on a deadline day; 5 December 2020, swap with Mohamed Jazlaan. On 21 January 2021, Faisal made his third Valencia debut against the newly promoted

Super United Sports Super United Sports, commonly known as ''SUS'' or ''Suspatis'', is a Maldivian professional football club based in Machchangolhi in the city of Malé. Club history Youth football enthusiasts from Kaaminee Magu of Machchangolhi, Malé, formed a ...

in the last gameweek of

first round, keeping a clean sheet in the goalless draw. During a Premier League match against

United Victory United Victory is a Maldivian professional football club. They have qualified for the Dhivehi Premier League Dhivehi Premier League is a Maldivian men's professional football league. At the top of the Maldives football league system, it i ...

on 22 April 2021, Faisal suffered a hamstring injury, forcing him to make way for Mohamed Shafeeu in the 40th minute of the game.

International career

Faisal made his international debut on 18 April 2009, against

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

in the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualification. He kept a clean sheet to his name in the game as Maldives won by 5–0.Match summary
at AFC In 2010, he was called up for the

2010 South Asian Games The 2010 South Asian Games, officially the XI South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event that took place from 29 January to 8 February 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the South Asian ...

, where he won bronze with the national under-23 team. He only played the third-place play-off match against India, in which he saved two penalties to win the penalty shoot-out. Following the retirement of then goalkeeper Imran Mohamed, Faisal was the number one goalkeeper for the national team since 2017. His first major tournament was the 2018 SAFF Championship in which they won the tournament for the second time in their history, also winning the best player award.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Club AYL * Third Division: Runner-up 2006 *

: 2007; Runner-up

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

;Victory * Dhivehi League: 2007 * FA Charity Shield: Runner-up 2010, 2011,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

* Maldives FA Cup: 2010; Third 2007, 2011 *

: 2011; Runner-up 2007, 2010,

;Eagles *

: Runner-up

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

;Valencia * Maldives FA Cup:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

* FA Charity Shield: Runner-up

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

;New Radiant *

* Maldives FA Cup:

* Malé League:

International

;

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

* SAFF Championship:

; Maldives under-23 *

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic ...

Bronze: 2010

Individual

* 2006 Third Division best goalkeeper * 2008 Second Division best goalkeeper * 2018 SAFF Championship Most Valuable Player * 2018 SAFF Championship best goalkepper