Muhammad Shahfiq bin Ghani (born 17 March 1992), also known as Shahfiq Shahfiq or just Shahfiq, is a

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 ...

an 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 lea ...

who plays either as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

club

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, wes ...

and the Singapore national team. He is known as a free-kick specialist.

Club career

Young Lions

Shahfiq began his club career with S.League club Young Lions in 2010. He scored 7 goals in 37 competitive matches over three Seasons from 2010 to 2012.

LionsXII

Shahfiq was selected to be in the

LionsXII LionsXII ("Lions Twelve"), also known as Singapore LionsXII, was a Singaporean youth football club founded in 2011 that played in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football, from their inaugural season until their dissolutio ...

squad in 2013. He contributed with 5 goals in 13 MSL matches as LionsXII won the

2013 Malaysia Super League The 2013 Liga Super () also known as the Astro Liga Super for sponsorship reasons, is the 10th season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.

. He drew criticism from head coach V. Sundramoorthy for his dismissal for slapping

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

Muamer Salibašić Muamer Salibašić (born 13 December 1984) is a Bosnian Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, First League of FBiH club ...

in a

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

match on 24 August 2013. A spinal injury threatened to rule Shahfiq out for the start of the 2014 season. He missed the Charity Cup match against

Pahang {{Infobox political division , name = Pahang , official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur , native_name = , settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

and the

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup () is an annual association football, football competition in Malaysia, established in 1990. It was previously managed by the Football Association of Malaysia, before being transferred to the Football Malaysia LLP, Malaysian ...

match against

DRB-Hicom DRB-HICOM Berhad () is one of Malaysia's leading corporations, involved in the automotive manufacturing, assembly and distribution industry through its involvement in the passenger car and four wheel drive vehicle market segment, the national ...

, returning as a 74th-minute substitute against

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

on 25 January. In total, he spent only 77 minutes on the pitch for his club in 2014. During his two-year spell with LionsXII, he scored six goals in 31 appearances.

Return to Young Lions

In 2015, Shahfiq return to the Young Lions, where he scored 5 goals in 22 league appearances for his club.

Geylang International

In 2016, it was announced that Shahfiq would be joining

Geylang International Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, that competes in Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 and played their first season ...

at the start of the 2016 S.League season on a 2 year contract. However, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during pre-season training and was ruled out for 6 months. This resulted in Shafiq missing most of the games of the season although he did make a return during the second half of the season. He returned to full fitness in July and made a surprise cameo appearance in the League Cup Plate Final against

Hougang United Hougang United Football Club is a professional football club based in Hougang, Singapore. The club competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singaporean football. Founded in 1998 as Marine Castle United, the club changed its ...

. He marked his return from injury by scoring a goal for his club in a friendly match against the

Cambodia national football team The Cambodia national football team ( Khmer: ក្រុមបាល់ទាត់ជម្រើសជាតិកម្ពុជា, ''Krŏm Băltoăt Chômreus Chéatĕ Kâmpŭchéa'') is the men's national football team that represents Ca ...

and laying off an assist for a last gasp goal in a 2-1 victory over

Balestier Khalsa Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Toa Payoh, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League. Founded in 1898, the club is considered as the oldest Football in Singapore, foot ...

in the league. He scored in his first goal for the club during the last game of the season in a 4-1 win over

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded ...

. He came back strongly enough to be recalled back to the national team and making the final 23 for Singapore's disappointing

2016 AFF Championship The 2016 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016, was the 11th edition of the AFF Championship, the Association football, football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation ...

. Shahfiq scored his first goal of the 2017 S.League season in a 2-0 win over Brunei DPMM FC while also winning another penalty which teammate Víctor Coto converted.

Hougang United

After being rumoured to join UKM F.C. in Malaysia, Shahfiq signed for

in 2018.

International career

Shahfiq was part of the Singapore national under-23 football team that won the bronze medal at the

2013 Southeast Asian Games The 2013 Southeast Asian Games (, ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, or the 27th SEA Games, and commonly known as Naypyitaw 2013, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event took place in Naypyidaw, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar from 11 ...

. He earned his first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

international cap in a friendly match against Hong Kong on 15 August 2012. His first international goal came against

China PR China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

in a friendly match in 2013.

Personal life

Shahfiq graduated from the

Singapore Sports School Singapore Sports School (SSP) is a specialised Independent school, independent boarding school under the purview of Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Government of Singapore that offers an integrated sports and academic programme to ...

in 2008.

Career statistics

Club

. Caps and goals may not be correct. * Young Lions and LionsXII are ineligible for qualification to AFC competitions in their respective leagues. * Young Lions withdrew from the 2011 and 2012 Singapore Cup and the 2011 Singapore League Cup due to their players participating in AFC and AFF youth competitions.

International

International goals ''Statistics accurate as of match played 5 March 2014''

U23 International goals

Honours

Club

LionsXII *

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 ...

Hougang United *

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost prestigious cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

International

Singapore *

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

: Bronze

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahfiq Ghani Living people 1992 births Singaporean men's footballers Singapore men's international footballers Singaporean expatriate men's footballers Singapore Premier League players LionsXII players Singaporean people of Malay descent Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Malaysia Super League players Young Lions FC players 21st-century Singaporean sportsmen Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games SEA Games bronze medalists for Singapore SEA Games medalists in football Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games Asian Games competitors for Singapore Geylang International FC players