| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Al Khalfan | ||
| Date of birth | February 18, 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Doha, Qatar | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Al Sadd | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998-2004 | Al Arabi | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004- | Al Sadd | 96 | (28) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006- | Qatar | 47 | (15) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4/2/2010. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Al Khalfan (Arabic: خلفان إبراهيم خلفان, born on February 18, 1988 in Doha) is a Qatari footballer who plays as a striker for Al Sadd. He is also a member of the Qatar national team. He was named the Asian Player of the Year in 2006, becoming the first Qatari to win the title. He played for Al-Arabi on the youth level before moving to Al Sadd. His father, Ibrahim Khalfan, is a former player of Al-Arabi and the Qatar national team.
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Khalfan started out with Al-Arabi (his father's club) and was signed by Al-Sadd in September 2004. He got into Al-Sadd's first team at the age of 17 in March 2005 and scored against Al-Shamal on his debut. 2005-06 was a significantly improved season for him when he scored goals in the Qatar League, Crown Prince Cup and Asian Champions League, which brought him into the spotlight. His performance in 2006-07 played a part in achieving the Asian Player of The Year title. He scored 5 goals in Al-Sadd's start to the league campaign and then was a crucial member of the Asian Games gold medal winning Qatar team. However, in an Olympic qualifying match against Bahrain in February 2007, he got himself injured and was laid-off for more than one year, missing most of Al-Sadd's record-breaking season in which they garnered 4 titles. He wasn't able to play in the 2007-08 league season as Al-Gharafa overtook Al-Sadd for the title. He returned for the revamped 2008-09 season which has been his best so far. He scored 8 goals in Al-Sadd's first 6 games, nearing Gabriel Batistuta's record of scoring in 8 consecutive Qatar League games.
Khalfan won the 2011 AFC Champions League with Al Sadd. Khalfan delivered an inspired performance against Suwon in the semi-final second leg to keep the club's hopes alive. He featured in the final against Jeonbuk which was won 4-2 on penalties. He assisted Keita by providing an accurate cross which Keita volleyed into the net, as well as forcing a Jeonbuk defender to head the ball into his own net on the earlier goal. The Koreans scored a late equalizer to make it 2-2, causing the game to go to extra-time and eventually penalties. His performance in the AFC Champions League earned him offers from other clubs, including a contract from Saudi club Al Nassr, however it was announced by the Al Sadd management that they would only take offers from the club in the summer transfer window, as they needed Khalfan to play in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup.[1][2]
Al Sadd's Asian triumph took them to Japan for the Club World Cup where Khalfan featured and scored against the African champions Esperance in their first match. Abdul Kader Keita's shot from a tight angle was only parried to the far post by Moez Ben Cherifia. Khalfan then reacted the fastest to nod home on the goal-line. The match, which proved to be an ill-tempered affair, was won 2-1. It was capped off with Esperance fans throwing projectiles onto the field and attempting to get past the security barricade. [3]
During this time, Khalfan accumulated 2 red cards in a row within 2 games in the Qatar Stars League, both in the 89th minute for physical altercations with other players. Al Sadd lost both of the matches in which he was red carded. However, he did not receive any red cards in international competitions.
Statistics accurate as of 21 August 2011[4]
| Club | Season | League | League | Cup1 | League Cup2 | Continental3 | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Al-Sadd | 2004–05 | QSL | 10 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2005–06 | 12 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2006–07 | 16 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 2007–08 | 6 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2008–09 | 21 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 2009–10 | 9 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2010–11 | 18 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 2011-12 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 92 | 28 | ||||||||||
| Career total | 92 | 28 | ||||||||||
1Includes Emir of Qatar Cup.
2Includes Sheikh Jassem Cup.
3Includes AFC Champions League.
Khalfan first played for Qatar's youth teams, scoring in the under-17 Gulf Cup held in 2003. Qatar finished runner-up and Khalfan finished second in the scorers list with 6 goals. He was part of the Qatar squad which played at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Peru, scoring one goal in the match against the mighty Netherlands. He and his young teammates battled their more illustrious opponents to a 2-2 stalemate at halftime but eventually lost out 3-5. It was a performance which caught the eye and contributed greatly to his Asian Player of the Year title. In the same year he played in the West Asian Games. Qatar's campaign was unsuccessful despite Khalfan scoring two goals. In all the above tournaments he played with a number of his teammates who along with him were to become the backbone of Al-Sadd and the senior national team.
After his stellar performances at the youth level, he and his teammates broke into the Annabi's senior team. Their first major triumph was the Asian Games title won in front of home fans, with Khalfan scoring 2 goals. He scored two superb goals against Bangladesh in their Asian Cup 2007 qualifying match. He then took part in his first Gulf Cup, where Qatar couldn't defend their title despite Khalfan scoring one goal against Bahrain. In 2008 he played a prominent part in Qatar's World Cup qualifying campaign scoring against Asia's No 1 side-Australia.
Khalfan took part in Qatar's 2014 World Cup Qualifications which were held from 2011. In a match versus Indonesia, which would be Indonesia's last hopes of qualifying for the World Cup, Khalfan scored an amazing goal from a long way out after dribbling past the defenders. Qatar proved to be too much for Indonesia, eventually winning the game 3-2 in a tightly clinched match.[5] Khalfan also got a brace in the home match against Indonesia in a 4-0 win, thus oficially eliminating them from qualifying, and in the process, making him the top scorer for Qatar in the 2014 WCQ.[6]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 16, 2006 | MA Aziz Stadium, Chittagong, Bangladesh | Bangladesh | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| 2 | August 16, 2006 | MA Aziz Stadium, Chittagong, Bangladesh | Bangladesh | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
| 3 | January 24, 2007 | Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Bahrain | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2007 Gulf Cup of Nations |
| 4 | June 14, 2008 | Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar | Australia | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 5 | October 11, 2011 | Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia | Indonesia | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6 | November 11, 2011 | Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar | Indonesia | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7 | November 11, 2011 | Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar | Indonesia | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
AFC Champions League: 2011
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