<div><img style="" class="img-responsive" src="https://www.qsl.qa/sites/default/files/%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%8A%D…; alt="Alt" title="" /></div>
<p>Akram Afif is Asia’s best player. The Qatar international was named the AFC Player of the Year 2019 at the AFC Annual Awards in Hong Kong on Monday.</p><p>Akram beat off the competition from Japanese defender Tomoaki Makino and Iranian goalkeeper Ali Reza Piranfand.</p><p>Akram is the third Qatari player to receive the award, after Khalfan Ibrahim in 2006 and Abdelkarim Hassan in 2018.</p><p>Afif was tipped as a future star since his early years that saw him play for Spanish youth teams Sevilla and Villarreal, before being called up for Qatar’s team for the 2012 AFC Under-16 Championship qualifiers and 2014 AFC U-19 Championship.</p><p>Not yet 20, Afif was part of Qatar’s 2016 AFC U-23 Championship campaign that was led by head coach Felix Sanchez and the forward was again part of the squad in the following edition, where Qatar finished third.</p><p>A permanent member of the senior national team since 2015, Afif was instrumental in Qatar’s Asian Cup UAE 2019 triumph, with one goal and 10 assists.</p><p>At the club level, he played an integral part as Al Sadd won the 2018-19 QNB Stars League.</p><p>The 23-year-old played a key role in Al Sadd making it to the 2019 AFC Champions League semifinals, scoring five goals before their run was ended by eventual winners Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia.</p>