Muhammad Zulqarnaen bin Suzliman (born 29 March 1998), also known as Mamat, is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors and the Singapore national team.
He is the younger brother of Zulfahdmi Suzliman who plays mainly as winger and striker for Singapore Premier League club Tanjong Pagar United.
Club career
Young Lions
Zulqarnaen made his professional debut for Young Lions in a 2–0 league match lost to Geylang International on 25 February 2016. He scored his first career goal on 27 February 2017 against Home United.
Lion City Sailors
On 17 January 2020, Zulqarnaen signed for newly privatised club, Lion City Sailors. He make his debut on 6 March 2020 in a league match against Tanjong Pagar United.
Loan to Young Lions
In April 2021, Zulqarnaen was loaned to his former club, Young Lions following his National Service commitments. He made a total of 16 appearances for the club.
On 11 June 2022, Zulqarnaen returned to his parent club, Lion City Sailors from Young Lions after completing his national service.
On 26 July 2023, in a friendly match against Tottenham Hotspurs at the Singapore National Stadium, Zulqarnaen was tasked to marked against Son Heung-min who was considered as one of the best players in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time in which he managed to close down and prevented Son for scoring or dribbling past him for the first half of the match. Zulqarnaen went on to gain worldwide media attention for his excellent defensive work rate against Tottenham. On 9 December 2023, he won the 2023 Singapore Cup after a 3–1 win against defending champion, Hougang United.
On 15 December 2023, Lion City Sailors announce that Zulqaernaen has signed a contract extension with the club,
International career
Zulqarnaen made his professional debut for the Singapore national football team in a friendly 2–0 win over Fiji on 19 September 2018.
Zulqarnaen made his AFF Championship debut in the 2018 campaign on 9 November, with a 1–0 win over Indonesia.
On 21 November, Zulqarnaen started and played 90 minutes in Singapore's 6–1 win over Timor Leste in the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup.
Personal life
Zulqaernaen's brothers, Zulkifli, Zulfadhli, Zulfadhmi, are all footballers in Singapore. He served his compulsory National Service from 2020 to 2022.
Zulqarnaen studied at ITE College West from 2016 to 2017.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 15 December 2023.
International
Senior international caps
U22 International caps
U19 International caps
U16 International caps
He was called up to the National U16 team for the 2014 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-16 Championship qualifiers.
U16 International goals
- Scores and results list Singapore's goal tally first.
Honours
Club
Lion City Sailors
- Singapore Cup: 2023
- Singapore Community Shield: 2024
International
Singapore U22
- Merlion Cup: 2019
Others
Singapore Selection Squad
He was selected as part of the Singapore Selection squad for The Sultan of Selangor’s Cup to be held on 24 August 2019.
References
External links
- Zulqarnaen Suzliman at Soccerway
- Zulqarnaen Suzliman at National-Football-Teams.com
