Playing on home soil, Qatar powered their way through to the last four in 2016, before defeats to Korea Republic and Iraq saw them miss out on a ticket to the Rio de Janeiro ​Olympic Games.

Felix Sanchez’s side are, however, flying high once again in China, and enter the game against their Southeast Asian opponents with four wins to their name following a perfect group stage campaign, and a dramatic 3-2 quarter-final defeat of Palestine.

With only 90 minutes separating Al Annabi from a place in the final, Moein is understandably eager to avoid a repeat of their Doha disappointment.

“At the last AFC U23 Championship we finished fourth, and we are in the semi-finals again,” said the talented 22-year-old midfielder.

“This time we have to do better than we did then, and qualify for the final and hopefully become champions. We are very motivated for this game (against Vietnam), and we hope to keep doing as well as we have already done in the four games we have played so far.”

The Al Duhail forward netted his fourth and fifth goals of the campaign during an entertaining first half as Qatar, who finished fourth at the competition’s 2016 edition, survived a late Palestinian rally to book a last four meeting with either Iraq or Vietnam.

However, despite Qatar moving to within 90 minutes of an appearance in the final, Ali is adamant that there is still plenty of hard work yet to come if Qatar are to claim the title.

“It is amazing that I was able to score two (more goals), and I want to say congratulations to my team because we played a very good game,” he said following the win.

“Qualifying for the semi-finals is very important for us, and we are very happy to reach this stage (of the tournament). However, I will still tell my team that we must continue working hard if we are to win the title.”

The Al Duhail forward starred throughout an intriguing encounter to guide Qatar, who finished fourth at the competition’s 2016 edition, into the next phase and break Palestinian hearts after they had forced their way back into the game late on.

Qatar are now scheduled to meet either Iraq or Vietnam in the last four on Tuesday.

On a foggy night in Jiangsu province, it was tournament debutants Palestine who raced out of the blocks at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Center, striker Oday Dabbagh making the most of hesitancy in the Qatar defence to fizz a shot narrowly wide of the left-hand upright with only 40 seconds played.

Group A winners Qatar responded quickly however, and Felix Sanchez’s charges came close to taking the lead on seven minutes when Sultan Al Brake’s lobbed attempt from a quick Akram Afif free-kick landed on the roof of the net with Palestine goalkeeper Ramzi Fahkouri beaten.

Qatar continued to press their opponents, and after seeing Fakhouri make a fine save from his drilled shot, Almoez Ali finally broke the deadlock on 32 minutes, the livewire striker connecting with Bassam Al Rawi’s pinpoint pass to steer the ball home with an outstretched leg and claim his fourth goal of a memorable campaign.

Vietnam defeated the former champions 5-3 penalties after an extraordinary 120 minutes of action ended in a 3-3 draw that saw the lead change three times before Park’s players advanced via the shootout.

The win highlighted the progress being made by the Vietnamese, who saw off Australia in the group phase before defeating a nation that won the first edition of the competition and who went on to finish third – and qualify for the Olympic Games – in 2016.