The Peninsula
Almoez Ali was named the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) yesterday as his record nine goals helped Qatar clinch the continental title for the first time.
Almoez struck once in Qatar’s 3-1 win over Japan in the final at the Zayed Sports City Stadium to also seal the Top Goal-scorer Award on a historic night for him and his team.
The 22-year-old Al Duhail forward scored in the 12th minute with a spectacular overhead effort that left Japan goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda helpless.
Almoez bettered the previous record of eight goals, held by Iran’s Ali Daei.
Almoez, who was also the leading marksman at last year’s AFC U23 Championship in China, had found the net in four of Qatar’s six matches en route to the final, including a four-goal haul against DPR Korea in the group stage.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Saad Al Sheeb won the Best Goalkeeper Award as the competition’s outstanding shot-stopper.
The 28-year-old Al Saad custodian played a key role in Al Annabi’s unprecedented march to the title, conceding only once in his side’s seven matches.
Al Sheeb was almost unbeatable throughout Qatar’s historic campaign, keeping six successive clean sheets as his side became the first in the competition’s 63-year history to reach the final without conceding a goal.
It took 609 minutes of game time for his perfect record to finally be broken, with a goal from Japan’s Takumi Minamino in Qatar’s 3-1 win in the tournament’s final the only blemish on his impressive record.