Jordan's Asian Cup hero is a player Liverpool are well aware of

Mousa Tamari scored a brilliant solo effort against South Korea to help send Jordan into their first-ever Asian Cup final on Tuesday. The winger has been monitored by Liverpool in the past.

With Wataru Endo's Japan exiting at the quarter-final stage, Liverpool no longer have any representatives in the continental tournament, which is being staged in Qatar.

However, one man the Reds may have had half an eye on during the competition is Tamari, who has played a key role in Jordan's surprise run.

Dubbed the 'Jordanian Messi', Tamari has been watched by Liverpool in the past, with Anfield Watch reporting last year that the Reds were keeping a close eye on the left-footed right winger's progress at club side Montpellier.

The 26-year-old, who spent time at Belgian side OH Leuven and in Cyprus with APOEL prior to his move to France, has scored three times and has one assist in Ligue 1 to date.

While there are obvious similarities between Tamari and the Reds' own Mohamed Salah – they are both left-footed, strong dribblers from Arabic countries – Messi is the superstar the Jordanian winger earned comparisons to while at APOEL. However, it is not a nickname he is particularly fond of.

"I know some people call me that [the Jordanian Messi], but I don't like that nickname," Tamari said as quoted by Marca in September. "In Cyprus the fans are a bit crazy and they came up with that nickname.

"They even made up a song in which they talked about me as the 'Jordanian Messi'."

Either Messi or Salah would've been proud of the second-half strike on Tuesday, with Tamari scoring one of the goals of the tournament to put Jordan 2-0 up against South Korea, confirming his nation's place in the Asian Cup final.

The winger cut in from the right side and dribbled past several Korea defenders before curling his effort into the far corner past goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo.

The goal was Tamari's first of the Asian Cup, with Jordan slow burners in the tournament.

They beat Malaysia 4-0 in their group stage opener but then drew 2-2 with South Korea and lost 1-0 to Bahrain, only qualifying for the knockouts as one of the best third-placed sides.

They have since beaten Iraq, Tajikistan and now Korea, setting up a place in the final against either Iran or Qatar on Saturday.

If Tamari puts in another similar display this weekend, it may well catch the attention of the Liverpool scouting team.