Hernan Crespo’s first season as coach of Al Duhail could not have gone much better, with the former Argentina striker leading the Qatari club to treble of domestic titles – the league, Qatar Cup and Ooredoo Cup.
While Duhail were hammered by Saudi side Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League semi-final and also lost in the Amir Cup quarter-finals, the Red Knights had a successful season under Crespo. So it wasn’t a surprise when the Duhail management extended Crespo’s contract to another year, until the end of next season. Now Crespo, whose coaching career has included spells in Italy, Argentina and Brazil, wants to repeat last year’s success with Duhail or even better it.
But the 48-year-old believes it won’t be easy as the other Qatar Stars League teams – especially Duhail’s arch rivals Al Sadd have strengthened their squad. “This will be a very, very difficult season. I think for us, the last season was amazing. We reached the semi-final of the AFC Champions League. We won three trophies then. It’s not easy to repeat. We try to be competitive again to try to fight in all of the competitions,” the Argentinian said ahead of Duhail’s opening match against Al Ahli on Friday at the Al Thumama Stadium.
However, Crespo was confident of the team’s success as he said the team’s pre-season preparations have been perfect. “The preparation has been perfect. We are only waiting to complete our roster with another foreign professional. But anyway, we are ready for the first game of the league, which will be very, very tough this time,” he added.
For Duhail, Al Sadd, a record 16-time winners of QSL, will once again be their main rivals for all the trophies this season while Amir Cup champions and league runners-up Al Arabi could also pose a tough challenge. But Crespo chose to focus on his team and urged his players to be competitive like last season.
“Our challenge is to try to be competitive. Logically we try to win the trophies, but the most important thing is to be competitive. After that, in football, everything can happen. Sometimes it has happened that we won three titles like last year, sometimes not. You never know.
“But I think, the way to respect our passion, respect our professionalism is to try to work hard. After that the rest is all a consequence,” he said philosophically.
Like last season, the league will take a six-week break this time too in December as Qatar will be hosting the AFC Asian Cup in January and February. “The last season was hectic with the World Cup and it will be so this season too,” said Crespo.
“We are very proud to have hosted the FIFA World Cup and now we are very proud to host the AFC Asian Cup (in January 2024). Our idea is to try to help the national team. And after that, we will try to do our best. We prepare the players to become better players. I think representing the national team is great. We are very proud of that and we try to give to the national team a lot of players,” said Crespo.
