DOHA
\nQatar successfully defended their Asian Cup crown after beating Jordan 3-1 on Saturday at Lusail Stadium where Akram Afif converted three penalties to become the tournament\u2019s top scorer as the hosts won their continental second title.
\nJordan were playing in their first Asian Cup final and seeking their first major trophy, but it was Qatar who prevailed in front of 86,492 fans including Qatar\u2019s ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
\nIt was a fitting final act to a month of football that began with 24 teams and witnessed a series of dramatic games.
\nIt will also help dispel the memories of Qatar\u2019s World Cup, when they lost all three games, the worst record of any host in the competition\u2019s history.
\nPlaying at Lusail Stadium, which staged the World Cup final 14 months ago, Jordan were in their first Asian Cup final and contesting the biggest game in their history.
\nRanked 87th in FIFA\u2019s world rankings, 29 places below their opponents, they fell behind midway through the first half when forward Afif held his nerve with a penalty for his sixth goal of the tournament.
\nQatar fully deserved their half-time lead but Jordan roared back to equalise through Yazan Al-Naimat\u2019s smart finish.
\nThe underdogs were level however for just six minutes, Afif slotting home once again from the penalty spot after the referee was advised by VAR to go to his pitch-side monitor.
\nThis time there was to be no Jordan comeback and Afif scored again from the spot for his hat-trick in injury time, again after a VAR intervention.
\nAt the final whistle the triumphant Qatari substitutes raced from the bench and threw Afif in the air.
\nQatar came into the final attempting to become the fifth team to lift back-to-back Asian titles and hoping to erase the bitter memories of their home World Cup.
\nQatar parachuted in the Spaniard Tintin Marquez to replace former Real Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz just a month before the Asian Cup, in a major gamble that paid off handsomely.
\nHis side started the final the better and had a couple of early sniffs at goal through danger man Afif, before Jordan\u2019s centre-forward Naimat stung the palms of home goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham.
\nQatar went ahead on 22 minutes when the livewire Afif, playing off the left, was clipped in the box by Abdallah Nasib.
\nAfif brushed himself down to plant his spotkick into the bottom corner, just beating the outstretched arms of Yazeed Abulaila, to join Iraq\u2019s Aymen Hussein as the joint leading scorer in the competition.
\nIn an unusual celebration, the 27-year-old Afif did a card trick, produced a playing card with his picture on it before the image flipped to an \u201cS\u201d.
\nJordan, who defeated Son Heung-min\u2019s South Korea 2-0 to reach the final, had their best chance in first-half injury time but Mousa Al-Tamari\u2019s first-time effort was blocked by Mohammed Waad.
\nHussein Ammouta\u2019s Jordan were disappointing in the first half but they cranked up the pressure in the second, Montpellier\u2019s Tamari, captain Ehsan Haddad and Yazan Al-Arab all forcing Barsham into saves.
\nThe goal was coming and in the 67th minute it duly arrived when Naimat controlled a cross with a sublime first touch, evading his marker to fire home for his fourth goal of the tournament.
\nQatar and Afif responded almost immediately however, and he produced the card trick once more after beating Abulaila from the spot for a second time, this time in even more convincing fashion.
\nQatar won a third penalty in added time when Afif was through on goal and brought down by goalkeeper Yazid Abu Layla, with the forward stepping up to put the game out of reach for Jordan with his eighth goal of the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DOHA Qatar successfully defended their Asian Cup crown after beating Jordan 3-1 on Saturday at Lusail Stadium where Akram Afif converted three penalties to become the tournament\u2019s top scorer as the hosts won their continental second title. Jordan were playing in their first Asian Cup final and seeking their first major trophy, but it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-386561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n