Goals by Almoez ALI, A Aziz and Akram Arif helped Qatar clinch their maiden Asian Cup title as they defeated Japan 3-1 in the summit clash at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Almoez ALI opened the scoring for Qatar in the 12th minute of the match, when his overhead kick landed in the bottom corner of the goalpost. After scoring the opening goal, the Maroons started dominating as they doubled their lead inside the first 30 minutes of the match.
However, Japan tried to fight back in the second half as they created a lot of chances. The Samurai Blues hit back in the 69th minute of the match as Minamino wriggled his way through the Qatar defence and scooped it over the keeper.
However, Japan were once again pushed to backfoot, when skipper Yoshida conceded a penalty with a little over five minutes remaining in the match. Akram Arif blasted the ball from the spot-kick to help Qatar restore their two-goal lead. With this win, Qatar became the ninth nation to win the Asian Cup title.