Akram Afif dropped to his knees. Pretty quickly he was being thrown into the air by his joyous teammates after the ahead’s hat trick of penalties secured back-to-back Asian Cup titles for Qatar. Afif, the excellent participant of the match and main scorer with eight targets, was nerveless when changing his spot kicks in a 3-1 win towards Jordan at Lusail Stadium on Saturday.
Just over a yr in the past it had been Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe who had lit up this spectacular venue in arguably the best World Cup remaining of all time. On this event it was Afif taking middle stage and changing into the primary participant to attain a hat trick within the Asian Cup remaining.
He had been his nation’s standout performer from the beginning of the match and didn’t disappoint when it fell to him to supply the decisive moments towards Jordan as Qatar grew to become the primary back-to-back winner since Japan in 2000 and 2004.
THE CHAMPIONS _#AsianCup2023 #HayyaAsia pic.twitter.com/ozbV8Ue7jt— AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 (@Qatar2023en) February 10, 2024
In entrance of greater than 86,000 followers and with the strain on, Afif by no means regarded prone to miss from the spot and he sparked wild celebrations with every aim.
“(I scored) the penalties due to the arrogance my teammates had in me. It shouldn’t be about method, it’s concerning the feeling that persons are behind me – my workforce,” Afif mentioned.
He received and transformed his first penalty within the twenty second minute. And after Yazan Al Naimat leveled the sport within the 67th he struck once more from the spot within the 73rd and sealed the win within the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Afif had spoken earlier within the match of his want to return to European soccer after spells in Spain and Belgium at the beginning of his profession. His performances, which additionally earned him the award for the Asian Cup’s most respected participant, will possible have caught the eye of golf equipment far and large.
While this was a private triumph for him, it was redemption for Qatar, which had endured a depressing World Cup on dwelling soil in 2022 when exiting the match after three straight defeats within the group stage.
Even as host and defending champion, Qatar had been an sudden finalist, not to mention winner. Captain Hassan Al-Haydos famous on the eve of the ultimate how critics had anticipated little of the workforce forward of the match.
How satisfying for him, then, to be draped in the identical kind of black Qatari ceremonial gown that Messi had worn to elevate the World Cup.
After the ache of that match, right here was a second of nationwide celebration because the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani handed Al-Haydos the trophy and shortly after there was an eruption of tickertape and fireworks.
Earlier, Qatar’s Spanish coach, Márquez López slumped in his seat, seemingly exhausted, as he waited out 17 minutes of stoppage time.
The exertions of the previous month appeared to have taken its toll. He had solely been employed in December and Qatar had been crushed 2-1 by Jordan in a pleasant in January.
“It was a very difficult game. The tension was high,” he mentioned. “Maybe it was not the beautiful football everyone wished for, but everyone remembers the winner.” Like Afif, López was additionally thrown into the air as a part of the celebrations.
Despite a tough buildup after taking on from predecessor Carlos Queiroz, López impressively guided Qatar to a profitable protection of the title it received in 2019. It grew to become the eighth host nation to win the match.
