A rampant 4-0 win semi-final over host nation United Arab Emirates has Al Annabi 90 minutes away from their greatest ever international football achievement, having racked up six AFC Asian Cup wins in a row without conceding a single goal in the competition thus far.

For a team that had won only six of their previous 32 matches in the Finals, it is a turnaround few could have predicted, but Salman told the-AFC.com Qatar's rise is the result of years of considered preparation under head coach Felix Sanchez, and that he is far from surprised.

In Felix Sanchez, Qatar have a head coach who has overseen the steady progress of several of Al Annabi’s leading lights – notably Akram Afif and Almoez Ali – thanks to his spells with a host of the West Asian nation’s age-group teams.

The 43-year-old Barcelona native joined the Doha-based Aspire Academy in 2006 before, seven years later, taking charge of the Qatari side which would go on to beat DPR Korea and claim the AFC U-19 Championship in 2014. 

Sanchez subsequently replaced Jorge Fossati in the Qatar hotseat in 2017, a role he now combines with the country’s U-23 side who he guided to a third-place finish at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.

Ali, who was born four months before Daei set the record in the 1996 edition of the tournament, drew level with the Islamic Republic of Iran legend eight minutes before half time, scoring superbly from the edge of the penalty area to put his side 2-0 up against the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking to the-AFC.com after his side's eventual 4-0 win, the in-form Al Duhail front man expressed his joy, before turning his attention to the tournament decider.

The 37th-minute strike means the 22-year-old joins Islamic Republic of Iran's Ali Daei as the most prolific scorer in a single edition of the competition, a mark established in the 1996 Finals, which were also held in the UAE.

Ali's historic strike was his eighth in six matches in the UAE, and follows the six-goal haul which saw him claim the top scorer award at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.

Tuesday's goal was one to savour, as Ali collected the ball 35 yards from goal, before driving towards the Emirati penalty area and unleashing a searing low drive which gave goalkeeper Khalid Eisa no chance.

Who, when, where? JAPAN v QATAR Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi - 18:00, February 1

Japan's 3-0 win against Islamic Republic of Iran in Al Ain on Monday and Qatar's victory over hosts United Arab Emirates 24 hours later in Abu Dhabi, sets up a mouth-watering clash between the sides, who will meet in the decider for the first time in the competition's 63-year history.

A Yuya Osako double, and Genki Haraguchi's late sealer, put the exclamation mark on what was the Samurai Blue's best performance in the competition thus far, and helped them their fifth continental decider since 1992.

Minamino, 23, was a key contributor in the win, and told the-AFC.com the four-time champions are improving with every match.

The midfielder-cum-defender is a regular for local club Al Ain FC, and came on as a substitute shortly after Hajime Moriyasu's side took a 56th-minute lead on the way to an emphatic victory.

Shiotani said achieving such a significant national team result at the venue he has called home for the last two years was something special.