Friday’s long-range missile was unleashed in the 58th minute by Uzbek midfielder Odil Akhmedov who is making a name for himself with his unstoppable thunderbolts.

Since making his national team debut in 2007, Akhmedov has scored three goals and all three have been from or near the 30-yard mark.

And in a perfect exhibition of his penchant for breath-taking shots, the cracker of a shot took off from 35 yards out after meeting the 25-year-old Akhmedov’s right foot and Qatari goalkeeper Qasim Burhan’s split-second delay destroyed any hopes he might have had of stopping the scorcher.

The ball gathered in power as it hurtled towards the goal and crashed against the underside of the bar before bouncing inside the line, sending the thousands of Qatari fans at the Khalifa Stadium into stunned silence.

Burhan had received a taste of Akhmedov’s abilities seconds earlier when the midfielder tried a similar shot only for it to be tipped over by the Qatari custodian.