A Name to Remember: Khalfan Ibrahim

You would think that a player that was named the Asian Footballer of the Year would have quite a presence on the Internet. We’re talking glowing YouTube montages, fan club sites and lengthy bios on Wikipedia. Oddly, Khalfan Ibrahim is largely an unknown quantity on the Web, but the kid is starting to make a name for himself on the pitch and it is probably only a matter of time before his play inspires someone to put together a fake Myspace page for him.

Here is what we do know about Ibahim. He is an 18-year-old striker from Qatar who plays for the country’s top team, Al Sadd. His full name is Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Al Khalfan, but if I ever hung with him I’d call him K.I.K.A.K. He has scored 16 goals in 47 appearances for Al Sadd and helped to lead them to the Qatar First Division championship this season. He has played three times for Qatar’s national team and scored twice against Bangladesh in his international debut.

It is often difficult to judge the talent level of players from the Middle East since they so rarely compete against teams from outside the region, but to be that young and to win the Asian Footballer of the Year award means that Khalfan Ibrahim must have something going for him and therefore his is a name to remember. And I’m not just saying that because his name coincidentally appears on the Wikipedia pages of alleged al-Qaeda members and FBI Most Wanted Terrorists.

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Category: Asia, World Football