Khalifa Ayil Al-Naufli

Khalifa Ayil Salim Al-Naufli commonly known as Khalifa Ayil ({{lang-ar|خليفه عايل سالم النافلي}; born 1 March 1984} is an Omani footballer who plays for Al-Nahda.^[1]

Career

Ayil began his career at Oman Club when he was a youngster. He quickly proved to be a first team player for the club and after some fantastic showings he moved to a new club Al-Riyadh. He continued to make some impressive appearances and was quickly sought out by Qatari club Al Sadd which resulted into a promising deal at the club.

After his impressive appearances for Al Sadd, Europe soon came calling for the Omani international. At first he was wanted by Arsenal FC but Al Sadd refused to deal with the club. He then went on A trial to Celta de Vigo where a potential loan deal could be sorted out.^[2] Ayil 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 Ayil 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 Ayil left Celta in August 2008 with his future very much up in the air.

On New Year's Day 2009 Ayil was arrested after partying in the early morning hours in Saudi Arabia and was under the influence of many units of alcoholic beverages before his arrest. Ayil was later cautioned and was enforced to do community service in the state.

In 2009, Ayil joined top Saudi Arabian football team Al-Ittifaq. Later in the same year he came back to Qatar and signed a deal with Al-Ahly. In 2010, he played for Kuwaiti club Al-Kuwait and then after one year played for Al-Raed 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 Omani giants Dhofar. Just after one season in June 2013, Ayil signed a deal with Al-Nahda.

Style of play

Ayil is naturally a central midfielder, although he is versatile and can play as a defensive cover too. He is a hard working and aggressive player. Due to his aggressiveness he has had a few disciplinary problems in his career. Ayil is known for his spectacular long range shooting skills which he has demonstrated at both the club and country level on a regular basis.

Name

Khalifa Ayil's full name is Khalifa Ayil Salim Al-Naufli. Although his tribe name being Al-Naufli, he (like many other people in the Arab World) refer to themselves with their father's name (in Khalifa's case, it'd be Ayil) as the name that will follow their first name. Many people in the Western World are not familiar with the naming system in the Arab/Muslim World, and at times it can cause much confusion, resulting in many aliases being used.

Honours

Club

• Kuwait Crown Prince Cup (1): 2011

National team career statistics

Goals for Senior National Team

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
	December 1, 2004	Manama, Bahrain	Latvia	3-1	Won	Friendly
	December 10, 2004	Doha, Qatar	Iraq	3-1	Won	2004 Gulf Cup of Nations
	February 13, 2006	Muscat, Oman	Iraq	1-0	Won	Friendly
	November 21, 2008	Muscat, Oman	Kenya	2-2	Draw	Friendly
	January 30, 2008	Muscat, Oman	Kuwait	1-1	Draw	Friendly
	November 15, 2009	Muscat, Oman	Australia	1-2	Loss	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

References