Mohamed Rifnas (born 9 January 1995) is a Sri Lankan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Colombo FC in the Sri Lanka Football Premier League. He operates primarily as a central midfielder and is comfortable playing both in attack and defense.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 January 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Maligawatte, Sri Lanka | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) [1] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Colombo FC | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Colombo FC | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2018 | Renown Sports Club | ||
| 2018– | Colombo FC | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014– | Sri Lanka | 8 | (2) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 April 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 December 2015 | |||
Career
editRifnas began his club career with Colombo FC in 2011 as a teenager & promoted the club from Division 1 to Champions League. After helping Colombo FC to the FA CUP finals, Renown Sports Club of the Sri Lanka Football Premier League made an effort to sign Rifnas's elder brother to the team. He made a midfield partnership with Fazul Rahman & his brother Rizni throughout the season, and earned two consecutive Golden Boot awards.[2] On March 28, 2018, Rifnas officially transferred to his childhood club, Colombo FC, after rumors had been spread about his transfer.
International
editRifnas made his debut for Sri Lanka on 26 August 2014 against Seychelles and scored his first goal for his country in the 78th minute. That goal proved to be the winning goal as Sri Lanka won 2–1.[3] Rifnas was then selected to be part of Sri Lanka's side for the 2015 SAFF Championship, where he was named as one of the top young players to watch during the tournament.[4] He scored the winning goal for Sri Lanka in their opening match of the tournament against Nepal in the fifth minute of stoppage time after the second half. Sri Lanka won 1–0.[5]
International goals
editScore and result list Sri Lanka's goal tally first.[2]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 26 August 2014 | Stade Linité, Victoria, Seychelles |  Seychelles |
2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 2. | 23 December 2015 | Trivandrum International Stadium, Kariavattom, India |  Nepal |
1–0 | 1–0 | 2015 SAFF Championship |
Career statistics
editInternational
edit- As of 23 December 2015[2]
| Sri Lanka national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2014 | 4 | 1 |
| 2015 | 4 | 2 |
| Total | 8 | 3 |
References
edit- ^ "Profile of M. Rifnas". footballcritic.com. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ a b c "Mohamed Rifnas". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ "Seychelles 1-2 Sri Lanka". World Football.
- ^ "Young Guns of the SAFF Cup". Nepali Goal. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ "Sri Lanka beat Nepal 1-0". Times of India. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.