Before the game, I highlighted Akram Afif as Qatar’s biggest threat going forward, but he simply hasn’t featured enough.
In fairness, he has not been helped by any of his teammates, who all seem to be lacking composure and the ability to cohesively progress the ball up the pitch, but the anonymous nature of Afif’s performance will be of real concern to manager Julen Lopetegui.
Given his talent and reputation as one of Asia’s most talented footballers (as evidenced by his two Asian Footballer of the Year awards), he must be held to a higher standard and he has underperformed in this match so far.
