Qatar won the Asian Cup 2019 on Friday evening at the Shiekh Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi as they downed Japan 3-1 in the final.
Goals from Almoez Ali, Abdulaziz Hatim and Akram Afif helped the Maroons register their first ever continental triumph, under the able guidance of coach Felix Sanchez.
Mansoor Mohammed Al-Ansari, the Qatar FA’s General Secretary, understandably was all praise for the team.
“We are very proud of the team, very proud of this achievement. It’s a historic moment for us and Allhamdulilah (Praise be to God)…that’s all I can say. Our men made us proud, very proud,” Al-Ansari told Goal.
It must be noted that several important players from the current set-up were part of the squad which won the AFC Under-19 Championship in 2014 under the tutelage of Felix Sanchez himself.
Thereafter, they also participated in the Under-20 World Cup in 2015. They came fourth in the AFC Under-23 Championship in the 2016 edition and followed it up by a third place finish in 2018.
Al-Ansari had earlier explained the country’s policy to focus on a young elite pool of talent and putting them through decisive training regime in order to develop their skills.
It must be mentioned that Qatar managed to hold their nerve despite playing in a hostile atmosphere throughout the competition. In fact there was a complaint lodged by the UAE FA to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) over the veracity of Almoez Ali and Bassam Al-Rawy being fielded despite being allegedly not being qualified to play for Qatar. However, the AFC dismissed any such notions ahead of the crucial final.
“Despite all the circumstances and all odds against us, we made it and came back with the cup from UAE,” said Al-Ansari.