But there is losing and then there is losing<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Few at Al Duhail, the eight-time Qatari champion, will forget the humiliation they suffered at the hands of Al Hilal in last year\u2019s AFC Champions League semi-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four goals before the half-hour mark rendered the contest over. By half-time it was 5-0 and could easily have been seven or eight. If this were boxing the referee would\u2019ve ended the contest already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only Al Hilal\u2019s self-restraint in the second half stopped the score ballooning out past the final score of 7-0. If they wanted they could easily have racked up double figures to really embarrass their Qatari opponent, but 7-0 was already embarrassment enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Standing on the sideline that night for Al Duhail was Hernan Crespo, suffering through one of the worst nights of his burgeoning managerial career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFootball has no secrets, and when you face a team like Al Hilal and your team lacks important players, you can lose and I am very proud of our players\u2019 performance in this tournament because they reached this stage for the first time in their history,\u201d a circumspect Crespo said afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you face a better team than you, it is difficult to keep the pace, and we may have been waiting for surprises to happen, but didn\u2019t happen. Never to mention also the pressure of matches. We must learn from this defeat and strive to work and build on the learnt lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n