Akram Afif scores a penalty hat-trick as Qatar defeats Jordan to retain the Asian Cup title.
Qatar successfully defended their Asian Cup title, defeating Jordan 3-1 on Saturday at Lusail Stadium. Akram Afif converted three penalties to help the hosts win their second continental title.
Jordan competed in their first Asian Cup final and sought their first major trophy, but Qatar won in front of 86,492 fans, including Qatar's ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Yazan Al-Naimat had briefly given Jordan hope in the second half when he scored an equaliser, but their hopes were dashed when they conceded two more penalties, both of which were converted by Afif, who finished the tournament with eight goals.
Afif, who was repeatedly thrown into the air by his teammates after the final whistle, was also named player of the match and tournament MVP.
"I congratulate the Qatari people and players. We're so happy after winning this difficult game, the tension was high," coach Marquez Lopez told reporters.
"Maybe we didn't play beautiful football today but everyone remembers the winner. I'm so happy for Akram, he deserved to win all the awards."
Qatar took the lead when Afif won a penalty in the 20th minute while attempting to skip past Abdallah Nasib, with the referee immediately pointing to the spot as Jordan coach Hussein Ammouta reacted angrily on the sideline.
Qatar's Hassan Al-Haydos hovered near the penalty spot, but once Jordan's players were out of the way, he passed the ball to Afif, who stepped up to find the bottom corner.
Jordan's first goal conceded since their dramatic last-16 win over Iraq, and Afif celebrated by performing a card trick for the cameras, displaying the letter 'S'.
"'S' is the first letter of my wife's name, she's from Kuwait. Today's match was her first in the stadium," Afif said.
"The cup will remain in Doha... We will tell our fans that the best is yet to come."
Jordan switched gears in the second half, pinning Qatar back as they began to find space behind the defence.
Yazan Al-Arab came close to equalizing with a sensational volley from a corner that was hit straight at the keeper, and Ali Olwan's back-heeled effort at the near post went inches wide moments later.
They finally equalised midway through the second half when Al-Naimat controlled a cross with a sublime first touch, evading his marker and firing home an uncontested shot for his fourth of the tournament.
Parity lasted only six minutes, however, as Qatar were awarded another penalty following a VAR review of Mahmoud Al-Mardi's trip, and Afif made no mistake from the spot.
"Scoring penalties is because of the confidence my team mates had in me. It's not about technique or choosing the angle, it's the feeling of having my team behind me," Afif added.
With 13 minutes added on, Jordan attempted to equalise once more, but Qatar won a third penalty in stoppage time when Afif was brought down by goalkeeper Yazid Abu Layla.
The forward kept his cool and stepped up one more time to put the game out of Jordan's reach as the home fans in the stadium erupted and unfurled a massive banner featuring their heroes from 2019 and the words "2023 loading."
"We weren't focused in the first half and we made mistakes. There were easy opportunities to score but we didn't. The timing of the two penalties (in the second half) was harsh," Ammouta said.
"But I want to congratulate the players. They've gained confidence and opened horizons for the future. Maybe we can win in future tournaments."
SportsLigue