Under-23 Player of the Year, Al Duhail’s Almoez Ali (left), Top Scorer of the Year, Youssef El Arabi and Coach of the Year Djamel Belmadi (right) pose for a selfie following the QFA Awards Ceremony yesterday.
DOHA: Feared striker Youssef Msakni won the QFA Player of the Year Award as Al Duhail scooped four trophies at a glittering ceremony last night.
The 27-year-old Tunisian, who also doubles up as a winger, scored 25 goals for Al Duhail who won the QNB Stars League title and the Qatar Cup in March and April respectively.
In a recorded message, Msakni said: “I want to thank God for this big honour. I want to congratulate the Al Duhail side for their amazing season. This has been possible because of the support I had from my team-mates, my coach, the backroom staff and the team management.”
Mskani has been ruled out of next month’s FIFA World Cup in Russia after suffering an injury in his last league game of the season. Msakni is recovering from a cruciate ligament injury.
Also last night Al Duhail manager Djamel Belmadi was named the Coach of the Year having guided his side to the AFC Champions League quarter-finals and the Qatar Cup final which they won.
Al Duhail will play the Amir Cup final against Al Rayyan tomorrow.
Msakni’s team-mate and dreaded forward Youssef El Arabi clinched the Highest Scorer of the Year award after scoring 26 goals in the season. El Arabi, the jewel in Al Duhail’s crown, won the Mansour Muftah Award for his 23 goals.
Qatar’s rising forward Almoez Ali, also of Al Duhail, was named the Best U-23 Player of the Year.
The awards ceremony was attended by QFA Vice President Saud Al Mohannadi, QSL CEO Hani Ballan and other top football officials.
Belmadi clinched the Best Coach award for leading Al Duhail to their most dominant season in recent football history in the country. The other contenders were Jesualdo Ferreira of Al Sadd and Michael Laudrup of Al Rayyan.
Belmadi said with a smile yesterday: “Finally! This award is not for me. This has been possible because of my players, They deserve it as much as I do. Also, my technical team, my medical squad and the team management. They deserve this glory as well.”
The entire ceremony was telecast live on Al Kass Sports Channel One.
QFA Vice President Al Mohannadi said: “It has been a fantastic football season with some great individual and team performances. Especially from Al Duhail who have done extremely well. Al Sadd and Al Rayyan too have performed well.”
The QFA Vice President said: “I congratulate everybody on a great season.”
The focus will not shift to the Amir Cup final at the Khalifa International Stadium tomorrow. Al Duhail and Al Rayyan will play the title clash in what will be the last football game this season.
