Akram Afif: Qatar's Asian Cup hero says he would 'love' to play in Europe

Akram Afif lit up the Asian Cup final on Saturday, converting a hat-trick of penalties against Jordan to secure back-to-back continental titles for Qatar.

The playmaker is well known to football fans in Asia and has only enhanced his reputation with his performances in Qatar where he finished as top scorer with eight goals.

Afif's star showing on home soil is only likely to reignite talk of a move to Europe, where the 27-year-old previously plied his trade, in Belgium and Spain, with modest success.

Afif netted three penalties in the 3-1 victory over Jordan, and he bagged a treble of individual awards: player of the match, most valuable player of the tournament, and top scorer.

He was also one of Qatar's best players as they won the Asian Cup held in the UAE in 2019, registering a tournament record 10 assists.

Opposition coaches who have faced him have praised his skills, with Tajikistan's Petar Segrt saying it was only a question of time and whether the Qatar forward wanted to return to Europe.

Afif scored three times in the group stage including a double against Lebanon to kick-start the tournament on January 12.

A penalty against Palestine secured Qatar a 2-1 win in the last 16 and Afif also scored in the 3-2 penalty shoot-out win over Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals.

A fine individual goal gave Qatar the lead as they came from behind to beat Iran 3-2 in the semi-finals before Afif stole the show in the final, scoring the first treble of the tournament and writing his name in the record books as the only player to have scored three penalties in an Asian Cup final.

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

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