In addition to winning the 2023 Asian Cup, the Qatar team won three 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 successfully executed 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 his team.
Qatar's Akram Afif and Meshaal Barsham.
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 saved three penalties in the shootout, helping Qatar win 3-2.
The Fair-play award went to captain Hassan Al Haidos. The player born in 1990 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, 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 Qatari 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 brilliantly from the start of the tournament, creating memorable moments that will remain in our memories for a long time. 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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