Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani -- who happily high-fived children while waiting for the team to arrive -- met the players as they landed to kick-start a second straight night of celebrations in Doha.

"I am very happy to see the people celebrating with us, we realise how big what we did is," said coach Felix Sanchez.

"When you win a trophy like that you feel very proud, to see that the hard work sometimes gives you the reward."

The 28-year-old labelled the decider at Zayed Sports City Stadium as the biggest game in his life, and goals to Almoez Ali, Abdelaziz Hatim and Akram Afif ensured he finished it from at the top of the Asian football mountain.

Speaking after becoming the first player in history to hoist the new AFC Asian Cup trophy, Al Haydos revealed his delight to the-AFC.com.

Fans from the 24 participating nations added colour and exuberance to the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 in the eight stadiums across four host cities - Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

 

The astonishing impact of the biggest-ever AFC Asian Cup was felt across all social platforms with the AFC Asian Cup Facebook page reaching 169.4 million impressions, a staggering increase by more than fifteen times from the 11 million reach four years ago.

Adding to this, fans also made their voices heard on Twitter, which received over 106.5 million impressions compared to three million in the last edition.

The biggest rise, however, was felt on the tournament’s official Instagram account, which garnered an astonishing reach of nearly 132.4 million compared to the one million engaged in Australia, as another 52.8 million impressions were garnered on Instagram stories.

Qatar emerged with the title for the first time after seven straight wins in the United Arab Emirates saw them score 19 times and concede just once to claim the newly-minted AFC Asian Cup trophy as the country continues along the road towards the hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2022.

Almoez Ali emerged as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player while Akram Afif and others impressed over the last four weeks and, with the Qataris boasting one of the youngest squads at the tournament, Sanchez believes there is more to come from his talented line-up.

Ali’s nine-goal haul makes him the most successful striker at a single AFC Asian Cup Finals ever with his total surpassing the great Ali Daei’s record, which was achieved the last time the tournament was played in the United Arab Emirates in 1996.

That tally saw him finish as the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 topscorer as well as claim the Most Valuable Player award, but despite an impressive personal haul, Ali is already setting his sights further forward.

Stunning goals from Almoez Ali and Abdelaziz Hatim had Qatar two goals ahead within half an hour, but Japan found a lifeline through Takumi Minamino in the 69th minute, before a VAR-assisted penalty conceded by Yoshida was converted by Akram Afif, effectively sealing the tie at 3-1.

Yoshida, who won the title as a 22-year-old in Qatar eight years ago, was left to reflect on one that got away for the competition's most successful nation.