Asian Cup: Afif dedicated to the success of Qatar, hat-trick to his beloved wife
February 11, 2024
Afif was crowned the top scorer of the tournament after collecting eight goals. - AP photo
LUSAIL: Qatar's sensational striker, Akram Afif's hat-trick goal, dedicated Qatar's success in defending the 2023 Asian Cup title after defeating Jordan 3-1 last night, to his wife.
The 27-year-old, representing local league club Al Sadd, also revealed that the card with the letter 'S' on it when celebrating his goal was the initials of his Kuwaiti wife's name.
"It (S) is the beginning of my wife's name, she is Kuwaiti and today is her first day at the stadium, this is her first match.
"I would like to thank and congratulate all the Qatari fans and I also want to give all the awards received tonight to my wife," he said, who wanted to keep his wife's identity a secret, at a press conference after the match at the Lusail Stadium here.
Commenting on the three penalty goals that were successfully converted in style, Afif said the secret was not because of technique but the confidence that came from the support he had received over the years.
Afif was crowned the tournament's top scorer after collecting eight goals, taking home the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and the final's best player.
At the same time, Afif praised Jordan by describing what the Hussein Ammouta-led squad had done as an achievement to be proud of after successfully making history to the semi-finals and playing in the final.
In the meantime, Qatar's head coach, Marquez Lopez said the match may not be the final as expected but he is still happy with the success which saw him win his first title as a national team coach.
"It was a difficult match, very intense, maybe it was a beautiful football match as we expected but I'm happy with this win and I'm happy with Afif for all the awards he won, he deserves all those titles," said the coach from Spain aged 62 years old.
In the final, Qatar took the lead through Afif's penalty in the 22nd minute, but Yazan Al-Naimat made it 1-1 in the 67th minute before Afif converted two penalties in the 73rd and 90+5 minutes respectively to confirm victory team.
