Zulkarnaen Zainal

Singaporean footballer

Zulkarnaen Zainal
Personal information
Full name	Zulkarnaen bin Zainal
Date of birth	(1973-10-01) 1 October 1973 (age 50)
Place of birth	Singapore
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)^[1]
Position(s)	Left Back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1993	Admiralty FC
1994	Tiong Bahru Constituency
1996–2001	Geylang United	82	(4)
2002–2003	Woodlands Wellington
2004–2011	Tampines Rovers	150	(3)
International career
1995–2004	Singapore	71	(8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Zulkarnaen bin Zainal (born 1 October 1973) is a Singaporean former footballer. He played as a left-back or left midfielder.

He was a member of the Singapore national team that won the 1998 AFF Championship.

Zulkarnaen also played in a friendly exhibition match against both Premier League club, a 2–0 lost against Liverpool on 16 July 2001 and a 1–8 lost to Manchester United on 24 July at the Kallang National Stadium. He has also played against a few powerhouse team including the likes of Finland, Uruguay, Norway, Japan and New Zealand in his time for the national team.

Playing career

Zulkarnaen started off his career at Admiralty as a promising young fullback in1992^[2] and was caught in the middle of a transfer controversy when the Football Association of Singapore banned him for eight months after discovering that he had registered himself with Admiralty and South Avenue SC, a club which plays in the First Division as well.^[3] The ban was later reduced to three months^[4] to allow him to be involved competitively after his recent seven-week training stint with FC Nitra in Slovakia.

Zainal won the 2001 S.League with Geylang United as the club captain before joining Woodlands Wellington in 2002. In 2004, Zulkarnaen joined Tampines Rovers and stayed with the club for 8 seasons before retiring at the age of 38.

International career

Zulkarnaen make his Singapore national team debut on 4 December 1995 during the 1995 SEA Games where he scored an equaliser in a 2–2 draw to Brunei at the Lamphun Province Stadium. He won the Bronze medal in the tournament.

During the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Lebanon on 13 April 1997. Zulkarnaen scored a late stoppage time goal in the 90+2 minute to equalise the game at 1–1 thus earning Singapore a point in the qualifiers.

Zulkarnaen was selected in the Singapore squad that won the 1998 AFF Championship where he scored a goal against Laos in a 4–1 win on 30 August 1998.

During the 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Zulkarnaen scored the only goal in the match as he secured a important three points win over Macau on 16 February 2000.

On 9 August 1999 which technically fall on Singapore national day, as the team was down 1–0 to Malaysia, Zulkarnaen scored in the 89th minute equaliser before teammate, Nazri Nasir scored the winning goal in the 90+5 injury stoppage time goal to secured the win.

International statistics

International goals

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 December 1995	Lamphun Province Stadium, Lamphun, Thailand	Brunei	2–2	2–2	1995 SEA Games
2	13 April 1997	Bourj Hammoud Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Lebanon	1–1	1–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	9 October 1997	Lebak Bulus Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia	Myanmar	2–2	2–2	1997 SEA Games
4	30 August 1998	Hanoi Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam	Laos	1–0	4–1	1998 AFF Championship
5	9 August 1999	Berakas Track and Field Complex, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei	Cambodia	1–0	2–0	1999 SEA Games
6	16 February 2000	Centro Desportivo Olímpico - Estádio, Taipa, Macau	Macau	1–0	1–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
7	27 January 2001	Singapore National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore	Thailand	1–1	1–1	Friendly
8	9 August 1999	Darul Makmur Stadium, Pahang, Malaysia	Malaysia	1–1	2–1	Friendly

Honours

Club

Geylang United

S.League: 2001

International

Singapore

SEA Games: 1995 'Bronze medal'
AFF Championship: 1998

References

^ S Gulam (4 December 1995). "Personal file". The New Paper. p. 48.
^ "Watch out for classy Zul next season", The Straits Times, 17 April 1992, Page 39
^ "Zulkarnaen and Admiralty FC guilty of breaching contract", The Straits Times, 15 May 1993, Page 39
^ "Zulkarnaen's ban cut to 3 months", The Straits Times, 16 July 1993, Page 38