LUSAIL, Doha — After scoring a hat trick in Qatar's 3-2 Asian Cup final victory over Jordan, Akram Afif has said he would be open to playing in Europe again, but the decision is not his alone , as their immediate focus is celebrating a second consecutive title.
Winning two of them, Afif scored a penalty hat-trick as Qatar beat Jordan at the Lusail Stadium on Saturday, becoming just the fifth Asian nation to defend its continental crown.
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It capped off a tournament in which the 27-year-old was a dominant force for the Maroons, scoring eight goals to secure the Golden Boot, finishing as the assists leader with three and being comfortably named player of the tournament.
Although he previously worked for clubs in Spain and Belgium, Afif has been linked to Qatari Stars League powerhouse Al Saad since 2018, where he has been the subject of frequent speculation as he established himself as one of Asia's best attackers with his prominently at a national and international level.
“Moving to Europe is something that all players want, but it is a decision that must be made with great consideration,” he said after the final, speaking through a translator.
“It's not me who decides. My wife also has to make the decision with me, it's not easy to leave the club and the country.
“It's destiny. If it has to be, then it has to be.”
“It's a difficult answer, I would say I would love to go.
“But what I do know is that we won consecutively [Asian Cups]”We are happy and we will enjoy until the next Asian Cup.”
Hosting the delayed tournament after initial host China withdrew, back-to-back Asian Cups helped Qatar exorcise some demons from their disastrous 2022 World Cup, where they lost all three group matches and were eliminated faster than any other host nation in history.
They achieved this despite some hesitation during 2023 and the departure of coach Carlos Queiroz just a month before the tournament, with Al-Wakrah coach Tintín Márquez parachuting in on Christmas Eve to take over.
“Maybe today we didn't play pretty football, but everyone remembers the winner. I'm very happy for Akram, he deserved to win all the awards,” Marquez said through a translator.
“What will happen is that I will return to Al-Wakrah and we will talk about the future.
“I don't know what will happen in the future, now we will enjoy and celebrate.
“Working with the national team is different. Working with the clubs is daily. I took over the position recently, before the start of the tournament.
“The important thing was that I knew the players and they implemented my ideals very quickly.
“While some games fell short of expectations, others exceeded them. In the end, it was the execution of the players' plans and ideas that made the difference.”
For Jordan, the defeat marked the painful end to what would otherwise have been a fairytale tournament, as the Chivalrous Ones previously defeated Jürgen Klinsmann's South Korea 2-0 in the semi-final and had never before past the round of 16.
“We've earned respect,” coach Hussein Ammouta said through a translator. “The team has developed very well and has opened new horizons for the future.”
“The penalties came at a time that did not allow us to come back. That's football, when mistakes are made, especially in defense.
“We congratulate our players who played a very good tournament.”
