Hosts Qatar retained the Asian Cup with a 3-1 win on Saturday against surprise packages Jordan with Akram Afif the home hero with a hat-trick of penalties.This 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.
An Asian Cup that began with stars from across Europe's top leagues has delivered an unexpected final. On Saturday, at the spectacular Lusail Stadium, host and defending champion Qatar will play Jordan, with neither team featuring players of wide renown. Premier League players like Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Wataru Endo (Liverpool) have departed.
Jordan's run to Saturday's Asian Cup final is all the more remarkable for the decrepit state of football infrastructure at home and the financial struggles of domestic teams and players.Before now, Jordan's best Asian Cup was the quarter-finals in 2004 and 2011.
Son Heung-min was supposed to have been the star of the show in the semi-finals but instead it was Mousa Al-Tamari whose sparkling display fired Jordan to the brink of Asian Cup glory.Tamari was scintillating against a South Korean defence who just did not know how to handle the pace and power of him or Naimat, who has also scored three times at this Asian Cup.