By Ibrahim El-Shawarby
CAIRO, Jan.29 (SEE)- Qatar defeated hosts Emirates to storm into the Asian Cup final for the first time with a 4-0 win, setting up a thrilling final against Japan in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Boualem Khoukhi’s early strike and an eighth goal of the tournament from striker Almoez Ali gave Qatar a 2-0 half-time lead and captain Hassan al-Haydos and Hamid Ismail completed the score sheet in the last 10 minutes.
Qatar will now face Japan for the Asian Cup decider. Japan had a phenomenal performance in the tournament, capitalizing on their great performance at last year’s 2018 World Cup, when they were narrowly eliminated by eventual third place winner Belgium.