ALGARVE, Portugal: Qatar skipper Hassan Al Haydos said the Asian champions picked up valuable lessons while facing ‘a tough Portuguese team’. Qatar lost to Portugal 3-0 in their 2022 FIFA World Cup, European qualifying match at Algarve Stadium on Saturday. Football icon Cristiano Ronaldo clipped one into the net following a defensive error from Bassam Al Rawi in the 37th minute. Jose Fonte doubled the lead in the 48th minute while Andre Silva (90th minute) added the third for Portugal. “We played against a side that consists of star players from prominent clubs, names who are active week in and week out in major international leagues around the world,” Al Haydos said on Saturday. “The match was difficult against a team of high calibre. We faced great pressure from the beginning, and we could not perform at our usual level. We were not able to launch the counterattacks as we had planned,” he added. “The experience we got will prove to be very useful in the future. Their strong tackles and the pressure we faced throughout the match was a learning experience for us. “We made mistakes that contributed to us conceding three goals. We hope to benefit from this experience because such big matches are what will give us the experiences we are looking for to prepare for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar this year,” he said. “We hope to do better in the Republic of Ireland match (on Tuesday), in which we will try to present a good account of ourselves and come out with a positive result,” Al Haydos said.