Qatar team dominates awards at Asian Cup 2023

In addition to the 2023 Asian Cup championship, the Qatar team won 3 more individual awards. Midfielder Akram Afif won the title of Best Player of the tournament thanks to his impressive performance.

The Al Sadd striker scored 8 goals, assisted 3 times and won the title of top scorer of the tournament. Before the final, Akram Afif had 5 goals but the successful execution of 3 penalties later helped him surpass Aymen Hussein (6 goals). Afif is also the only player to score a hat-trick at the 2023 Asian Cup.

After 2 Asian Cups (2019 and 2023), Akram Afif set a historic milestone with 9 goals and 13 assists. No player has achieved the same feat as him when directly participating in 22 goals for the home team.

Akram Afif and Meshaal Barsham of Qatar.

Meshaal Barsham won the title of Best Goalkeeper of Asian Cup 2023. He kept a clean sheet in 3 out of 7 matches, conceding 4 goals.

One of Meshaal Barsham's best performances came against Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals. The Al Sadd goalkeeper made three penalty saves in the shootout, helping Qatar win 3-2.

The Fair-play award went to captain Hassan Al Haidos. The 1990-born player was praised after he gave his oath-taking speech to Musab Al Battat, captain of the Palestine team.

In addition to the awards given by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the Qatar team set many more milestones. They became the 4th team in history to successfully defend the championship. Before that were the teams of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan. For the first time in history, a team in the Asian Cup final scored 3 goals all from the penalty spot.

" On behalf of the AFC, I congratulate the Qatar team on defending their Asian Cup title. They have shown perseverance and quality over the past 30 days. Jordan were a worthy opponent for them. The two teams played excellently from the start of the tournament, creating impressive moments that will last long in our memories. We thank the Qatar Football Association and Jordan for their dedication ," said Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, President of the AFC.

Van Hai

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