Khalifa Ayil Salim Al-Noufali (; born 1 March 1984), commonly known as Khalifa Ayil, is an

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

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 lea ...

who plays for

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

in the

Oman Professional League The Oman Professional League (; 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, and was officially created in 1976. Curren ...

Club career

Khalifa began his career with

Oman Club Oman Club (; also known locally as ''Al-Ahmar'', "The Red(s)" or simply as Oman) is an Omani list of football clubs in Oman, football club based in Muscat, Oman, Muscat. The club currently plays in the Oman Professional League, First Division L ...

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

Al-Riyadh Riyadh F.C. or Al-Riyadh () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It currently plays in the Saudi Pro League (the first tier of professional football in Saudi Arabia). It was established in 1953 as Ahli Al-Riyadh, then ...

based in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

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

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

i club

Al-Sadd Sports Club Al Sadd Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the capital city Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it i ...

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 The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. In domestic football, Arsenal h ...

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

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

for

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was fou ...

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 Club (), commonly known as Al-Ettifaq or simply Ettifaq, is a professional Association football, football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, which competes in the Saudi Pro League. The club was established by the merger of three Dammam-ba ...

. Later in the same year he came back to

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

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

i club

Al-Kuwait SC Kuwait Sports Club () is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Kuwait City. Their football team has won Kuwait Premier League 19 times and has won over 50 trophies overall. The club plays in the Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium located in ...

and then after one year played for

Al-Raed Al Raed Saudi Football Club ( ''Nādī ar-Rāʾid''; ) 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 in 1954, Al R ...

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 () 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 Governorate and the southern border with Saudi Arabia's Easter ...

. 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

Arabian Gulf Cup

Amad has made appearances in the

16th Arabian Gulf Cup The 16th Arabian Gulf Cup () 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 continued to be banned from the tournament ...

, the

17th Arabian Gulf Cup The 17th Arabian Gulf Cup () was held in Qatar between 10 and 24 December 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 Oman came in runners ...

, the

18th Arabian Gulf Cup The 18th Arabian Gulf Cup () 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 neighbors Oman 1–0 in the final, courtesy of a goal ...

and the

19th Arabian Gulf Cup The 19th Arabian Gulf Cup () was the nineteenth edition of the biannual Gulf Cup competition. It took place in Muscat, Oman, from 4 to 17 January 2009, with Oman emerging as the winner for the first time in its history, following a penalty shoot ...

. He scored a goal in the

in 2004 in a 3-1 win over

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

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

Arabian Gulf Cup The Arabian Gulf Cup (, ''Kaʾs al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī''), also referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial association football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nations. The history of ...

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 (; born 30 December 1981) is an Omani retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for the Oman national team for nearly two decades, from 2001 to 2019. Club career Early career Al-Habsi was ...

missed a penalty.

won the match 6-5 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1 at normal time. Amad Al-Hosni 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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. 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 secon ...

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 America ...

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 (Oc ...

. 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 an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

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 player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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 () is a Kuwaiti annual football competition created in 1994. Previous winners *1994: Al-Kuwait *1995: Kazma *1996: Al Arabi *1997: Al Arabi *1998: Qadsia *1999: Al Arabi *2000: Al Arabi *2001: Al-Salmiya *2002: Qadsi ...

(1):

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

*With

Al-Nahda The Nahda (, meaning 'the Awakening'), also referred to as the Arab Awakening or Arab Enlightenment, was a cultural movement that flourished in Arab-populated regions of the Ottoman Empire, notably in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Tunisia, during ...

(1): 2013-14 **

Sultan Qaboos Cup The Sultan Qaboos Cup (), also known as the HM's Cup, is Oman's premier knockout tournament for men's football. It was officially founded in 1972 and the champions of that first edition were Al-Ahli. It was briefly known as Oman Cup. Currently, t ...

(0): Runner-up

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

* *
Khalifa Ayil
at Goal.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayil Salim Al-Noufali, Khalifa 1984 births Living people Omani men's footballers 21st-century Omani sportsmen Oman men's international footballers Omani expatriate men's footballers Men's association football defenders 2004 AFC Asian Cup players Oman Club players Al-Riyadh SC players Al Sadd SC players Al-Ettifaq FC players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Kuwait SC players Al Raed FC players Dhofar Club players Al-Nahda Club (Oman) players Bosher Club players Saudi Pro League players Qatar Stars League players Oman Professional League players Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Omani expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Omani expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for Oman Footballers from Muscat, Oman Omani expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Kuwait Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Kuwait