BY Jonathan Ledger
Qatar pulled off a major surprise to win their first ever continental tournament, the Asian Cup.
The country upset Japan, the third-ranked country in Asian football, to a 3-1 victory.
The 2022 World Cup hosts scored two first-half goals; the first a bicycle kick from the tournament’s highest goalscorer with nine goals, Ali Almoez, to stun the Samurai Blue of Japan who had never lost an Asian Cup final.
Although Japan pulled a goal back in the 69th minute through Takumi Minamino- the first goal Qatar conceded at the tournament, the Arab nation ranked 93rd in world football added a third goal eight minutes from time to seal victory.
The Maroons, coached by a former Barcelona trainer, Felix Sanchez Bas, had defeated Asian superpowers, Saudi Arabia and South Korea on the road to their maiden Asian Cup final to ensure a surprise winner of the Asian continent’s Nations Cup.
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