Semis berth delights Bahrain coach “Fantastic game from our players (vs Kuwait) and we came back to doing what we are used to. I think we were the best team.” TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019 PAGE 14 HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani, President, Qatar Olympic Committee; HE Sheikh Hamad bin Suhaim al Thani; Dr Thani bin Abdulrahman al Kuwari, Second Vice-President, QOC; Jassim Rashid al Buenain, Secretary-General, QOC; and 24th Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation Qatar players clap for the ‘2019 Asian Player of the Year’ Akram Afif after he scored the opening goal Committee Members applaud at the end of Qatar’s match against UAE at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday. against UAE in the crucial Group A Gulf Cup match in Doha on Monday. Asian champions Qatar rock, and roll into the semi-finals Al Annabi ride on Afif’s brace, Hassan and Haydos’ strikes to prevail over United Arab Emirates 4-2 at a packed Khalifa Intl Stadium AYENI OLUSEGUN DOHA Scoreline NEWLY crowned Asian Player of the Year Akram Afif dazzled Qatar 4 (Akram Afif 20’, with a brace as Qatar beat the 28’(P), Hassan al United Arab Emirates (UAE) 4-2 in a pulsating encounter Haydos 53’, Boualem at the Khalifa International Khoukhi 90+4’) Stadium on Monday to qualify for the semi-final of the 24th bt UAE 2 (Ali Mabkhout Arabian Gulf Cup. 33’ (P), 77’) The 43,780 fans in the stadium were treated to ar- guably Qatar’s best perfor- A football buff at 24th Arabian mance so far in the Gulf Cup Gulf Cup’s action on Monday. as Afif, Hassan al Haydos and Boualem Khoukhi all scored Abdulaziz Hatem returned for the Maroons. to the team after recovering Qatar qualify second with six from a shoulder injury sus- points in Group A, one point be- tained against Yemen. The Al hind leaders Iraq who were held Rayyan midfielder replaced to a goalless draw by Yemen. Haydos carved out an opening The hosts will meet Saudi for himself but his effort with Arabia in the semi-final, who his weaker right foot was eas- beat defending champions ily gathered by Al Shamsi. Oman 3-1. Tarek Salman’s poor clear- Bahrain set up the other ance almost gifted Mabkhout last four clash with Iraq after his second of the night but they beat ten-time champions the striker skewered his shot Kuwait 4-2. harmlessly wide. Despite needing only a The 29-year-old soon draw to qualify, Al Annabi made up for the earlier miss started the match on the attack 13 minutes from time when and created two quick chances a corner kick bounced off Al- as the trio of Afif, Almoez Ali How they qualified moez, rolled into the path of and Haydos led the attack. GROUP A Mabkhout whose shot beat Al Afif slipped in Almoez Ali Nation M W D L GF GA GD Pts Sheeb from close range. with a well-weighted pass but Iraq 3 2 1 0 4 1 3 7 The UAE enjoyed more his shot was pushed out by Qatar 3 2 0 1 11 4 7 6 possession towards the end UAE 3 1 0 2 5 6 -1 3 UAE goalkeeper Mohammed Yemen 3 0 1 2 0 9 -9 0 of the 90 but a quick break al Shamsi. involving Almoez and Afif That miss didn’t matter as needed a last ditch dive from Afif soon put the hosts ahead Qatar’s Boualem Khoukhi (3rd left) heads the ball to score the fourth goal for the hosts during the crucial 24th Arabian Gulf Cup Group A match against the United Arab Emirates at Khalifa al Hammadi. right on the 20th minute. UAE’s the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday. Three-time Gulf Cup champions Qatar will lock horns with Saudi Arabia in the second semi-final on Thursday at 8pm.( AFP) Boualem Khoukhi put the Mohammed al Matroushi’s match beyond the Emiratis in clearance was blocked by Al- be enough. The players started in the second half we created after the match. before Haydos smashed into tried our best but we know the added time when the Al Sadd moez and the ball fell kindly to with the right mentality. We chances. We deserve the result Al Annabi began the sec- the bottom corner from inside first game is always difficult. star powered home a header Afif who took one touch l before conceded the first goal when at the end of the 90 mins,” Qa- ond half were they had left off the box eight minutes in. I think the players showed a from Hatem’s corner. slotting the ball past Al Shamsi we were playing our game but tar coach Felix Sanchez said on the attack and Afif saw his Two goals up, Qatar had good level and they played with “We lost to a strong team sending the fans at the Khalifa curler bounce of the cross bar. their foot of the pedal and Ma- great personality especially af- who are champions of Asia. Stadium into hysteria. However, the three-time bkhout had a chance for the ter losing to Iraq. We are grow- They have been playing to- Eight minutes later, Afif champions were not to be de- UAE but directed his header ing in the competition. We gether for a long time. Unfortu- made it two when VAR con- nied a third thanks to the bril- wide off the mark after a spell have just two days to recover nately a few of our players were firmed the ball had touched liance of Haydos and Almoez. of possession for the Emiratis. but we will try to recover in injured and couldn’t play, we UAE’s Mohamed al Menhali’s The strikers played a one-two “In all the three games, we a good condition to play the were also a bit unlucky,” UAE hand in the box after tus- semis,” Sanchez quipped. coach Bert Van Marwijk said. sle with Karim Boudiaf. Afif stepped up, sending Al Shamsi the wrong way. Ali Mabkhout pulled UAE pulled one back for the UAE in the 32nd from the penalty spot after Saad al Sheeb brought down Bandar al Abhabi, leav- ing Japanese referee Ryuji Sato no choice. Abdelkarim Hassan’s stun- ner cannoned off Al Shamsi’s as Qatar went into the break with a slender lead. “Congratulations to the players and our fans for the result. The players did well, Qatar players thank the capacity crowd after qualifying for the semis though we knew a draw would at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday. Star of the day, Akram Afif celebrates scoring the first goal. (AFP) A fan celebrates with the Qatar flag at the Khalifa Intl Stadium. Sports Tuesday, December 3, 2019 13 24th Arabian Gulf Cup QATAR | OMAN | KUWAIT | SAUDI ARABIA | UAE | BAHRAIN | IRAQ | YEMEN Afif celebrates ‘2019 Asian Player of the Year’ award with a dashing double QNA/AFP HONG KONG Qatar’s star forward Akram Afif’s sterling year was made even more exceptional when the Al Annabi international was named as the AFC Player of the Year 2019 at the AFC Annual Awards on Monday. As if celebrating the big honour, the 23-year-old siz- zling forward scoring a de- lightful opening goal in the crucial clash of the 24th Ara- bian Gulf Cup against UAE at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha in the even- ing, before adding another via a penalty strike. A permanent member of the senior national team since 2015, Afif was instru- mental in Qatar’s AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 triumph, with one goal and 10 assists. He beat Iran goalkeeper Al- ireza Beiranvand and To- Qatar’s forward Akram Afif (left) moaki Makino of Japan to receives the Man of the Match the Asian Football Confed- award after the 24th Arabian eration honour. Gulf Cup Group A match against “Very happy to be select- the United Arab Emirates at the ed as the Asian Player of the Khalifa International Stadium in Year. This is a great honour Doha on Monday. (AFP) for me,” tweeted Afif from Doha. and Guam Football Asso- Afif was tipped as a future Qatar’s forward Akram Afif (right) celebrates one of his two goals against the UAE in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup Group A match at the Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday. ciation (GFA) were honored star since his early years that with the AFC Member As- saw him play for Spanish sociation of the Year 2019 youth teams Sevilla and Vil- named the AFC Women’s U-16 Championship 2010 Developing and Aspiring larreal, before being called Player of the Year Award ‘A Great Day for Afif’ Qualifiers. awards respectively. up for Qatar’s team for the ahead of Li Ying of China PR Asako Takakura win AFC The three East Asian 2012 AFC U-16 Champion- and India women’s national Today is a great day for him (Akram Afif), and we are happy. Women’s Coach of the Year Member Associations have ship Qualifiers and the 2014 team star Ashalata Devi. I have known him since 2006 when I arrived here. He has for a record seventh time. made great strides in 2019 AFC U-19 Championship. Tottenham Hotspur worked hard to be in the national team. He deserves Takakura, who also won the through competitive Conti- He wasn’t even 20 when and Korea Republic to be here with the quality he shows and all the award in 2012, 2013, 2014, nental matches, as well as Afif became a part of Qatar’s star Song Heung- 2015, 2017 and 2018, led programmes and initiatives 2016 AFC U-23 Champion- min was named the players are very happy for him on having Japan to the FIFA Women’s to further spread the aware- ship campaign that was led AFC International won the AFC award.