Like I said at the start of the tournament, not really surprised to see a regional team win it (and two in the final). I feel like when it's in the ME I rule out the likes of Korea and Japan. I actually feel like there is a bit of a handicap now as every tournament seems to be in the ME (shocking news, I know, but the next one is in Saudi).
Tbh it would be no different than a Euro team trying to win a tournament in South America, it's a long way away and a different planet, the only difference is that these teams have some familiarity with each other as they play in latter qualifying rounds. AFC is, geographically, a ridiculously big federation.
I know lots of players around the world play in Europe and it's a bit of a leveller in terms of familiarity but also conversely it is a positive thing for Qatar that all of their players are domestic, especially for a home tournament.