LUSAIL – Qatar’s Akram Afif underlined his credentials as one of Asia’s finest forwards with a hat-trick in the Asian Cup final to guide his team to back-to-back titles, but the forward was coy on playing for another European club in future.

Afif netted three penalties in the 3-1 victory over Jordan on Feb 10, and he bagged a treble of individual awards: Man of the Match, Most Valuable Player and top scorer, with eight goals, of the tournament.

Opposition coaches have praised his skills, with Tajikistan's Petar Segrt saying it was only a matter of time and whether the 27-year-old Al-Sadd forward wanted to return to Europe.

Since leading Qatar to the 2019 title with a tournament-record 10 assists, Afif has become one of Asia's most-feared players.

At the start of this tournament in Qatar, he said he had dreams of returning to Europe, having previously played for Eupen in the Belgian Pro League.

He later became the first Qatari player to be signed by a La Liga club when he moved to Villarreal in 2016, but he was loaned out to Sporting Gijon before returning to Eupen and finally to Al-Sadd in 2018.

He has since developed and is arguably playing at his peak based on his Asian Cup exploits.

“I talked about becoming a professional player (in Europe). But it’s not me who decides. My wife also has to make the decision for me. It’s not easy to leave the club and country,” Afif said after the final, but he added: “I’d love to become a professional player (in Europe)... I’d say I would love to go.”

For now, he will enjoy helping Qatar become only the fifth country to retain the Asian Cup crown.

“We’re happy and we will enjoy until the next Asian Cup. Then we’ll see what happens,” he added.

Coach Marquez Lopez was appointed only in December when Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz abruptly parted company with the national team.

But Lopez, who came in from Qatari side Al-Wakrah, managed to implement his philosophy despite taking charge less than a month before the Asian Cup. The Spaniard did not say if he would stay in the job long-term, however.

“What will happen is I’ll go back to Al-Wakrah. I haven’t talked about the future,” Lopez said.

“I took charge only recently, but what was most important was that I know the players. They implemented my ideas very fast.

“In some matches we didn’t deliver our best, but in others we were better and exceeded expectations.”

Meanwhile, Jordan coach Hussein Ammouta said his side caved in under the weight of expectation in their first Asian Cup final.

Qatar took the lead in the first half and were the better team in the opening period, before Jordan equalised through Yazan Al-Naimat’s smart finish after looking the better team in the second half.

But Qatar hit back with two more penalties through Afif to leave the underdogs heartbroken.

“I talked before the game about the mental aspect,” said the Moroccan Ammouta. “I told them to enjoy the game. It’s a final, but I told them to enjoy it.”

He added: “There was a big focus on the players and I was scared that the environment would have an impact on them.

“People can have good intentions, but it can have an impact on them (the players). Their interactions with their families and on social media put pressure on them. It was clear.

“I am the coach, but I can’t take their iPads and phones.”

Despite defeat on the day, Jordan put themselves on the footballing map as they reached their first semi-final in the history of the competition.

There they defeated two-time winners South Korea 2-0 to reach their debut final.

“We have done well, but we need to create the conditions to maintain this level and keep improving,” warned Ammouta.

“We need to keep improving the players’ skills and also their physical condition.” REUTERS, AFP