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Qatar beat Japan 3-1 to win their maiden Asian Cup crown in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Qatar had beaten hosts UAE 4-0 in the semifinal, whereas Japan beat Iran 3-0. Qatar is also going to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022, and this win should prove to be a great boost for their football.
Japan have won the Asian Cup crown 4 times before, and were the favorites to win it this time as well. However, Qatar put in a spirited display to win the trophy with consummate ease. Japan had more than 60% ball-possession and around 15 corners in the match, but could not cause any major damage to the Qatari defence. On the other hand, Qatar scored some wonderful goals to secure a memorable victory for themselves.
We would now take a look at the 3 takeaways of the match;
#1 Qatar’s passing football was a treat to watch
Qatar’s coach Felix Sanchez hails from Barcelona and was the coach of the FC Barcelona junior team as well. He seems to have inculcated the philosophy of passing football extremely well into this Qatari team. They kept playing short passes among themselves and controlled the tempo of the match for the majority of it.
Qatar started with a 5-3-2 formation and all their 5 defenders stayed close to their penalty box for most of the time. Japan are a very dangerous counter-attacking team, and their forwards have the tendency to sneak very quickly into the final third through the space between the opposition defenders. The Qatari defence was alert against such threats and always remained on their toes.
However, whenever they got the ball, their midfielders and forwards kept rotating possession among themselves with a string of short passes. At times, their forwards played the ball backwards to their midfielders and then re-positioned themselves in the final third. This strategy slowed the game down and did not allow Japan to win back possession through quick interceptions in the midfield. Akram Afif was a livewire in Qatar’s attack again and recorded his 10th assist of the tournament yesterday.
Qatar’s slick passing football treated the spectators very well and also made sure that they did not give the ball away very easily.
#2 Qatar scored two stunning goals in the first half
Qatar virtually killed the match in the first half itself with two stunning strikes. Almoez Ali scored with a brilliant overhead kick in the 12th minute after having received a pass from Akram Afif. This was Ali’s 9th goal of the tournament and 13th overall in 25 matches for Qatar. Afif made a lateral movement to break away from his markers and then played the crucial pass to Ali, who finished brilliantly.
Qatar scored again through Abdul Aziz Hatem in the 27th minute, as the midfielder received the ball just outside the penalty box, and beat the Japanese goalkeeper with a 25-yard scorcher. He had scored a similar goal in the quarter-final against South Korea, and has been one of the most impressive players of the tournament. Those two outstanding goals destroyed the morale of the Japanese in the first half itself, and paved the way for a resounding win for Qatar.
#3 Japan made a brief comeback in the second half, but Qatar were too good for them
Japan tried to come back into the match and even managed to reduce the deficit in the 69th minute through a strike by Takumi Minamino. However, Qatar’s defence held firm and did not allow any further slip-ups. Bassam was again superb in the defence for Qatar yesterday and thwarted a lot of Japanese attacks.
Full-backs Sakai and Nagatomo made some overlapping runs for the Japanese through the right and left flanks respectively, but their efforts were not good enough to breach the solid Qatari defence. Qatar got a corner in the 82nd minute and Japanese captain Yoshida handled the ball while trying to defend it. The referee consulted the VAR before awarding a penalty to Qatar. Afif did not make any mistake in converting from the spot and gave Qatar a 3-1 lead.
Qatar’s 3rd goal virtually ended any chances of a late Japanese revival and won them their first Asian Cup crown. They should remain a great force in Asian football in the coming years as well.
