Hekari lasted no more than one match as they were beaten 3-0 by hosts al-Wahda, the United Arab Emirates champions, in the tournament opener on Wednesday night.
"I believe attack is a defensive weapon," said coach Tommy Mana, one of several Solomon Islanders involved in the Port Moresby side, as he defended his team's commitment to going forward.
"It happened in just five minutes. Our plan was to score early... We lost our possession," Mana told the post-match news conference.
"We just slipped up in those five minutes. When you make errors, that's it," added Mana, whose team conceded a third goal in the 71st.
Al-Wahda were fearful of emulating al-Ahli, who lost last year's opening match to New Zealand's Auckland City and were criticised by organisers for the failure. The only well-attended matches in 2009 after that were the two played by winners Barcelona.
Al-Wahda's Austrian coach Josef Hickersberger said: "Hekari are a good team. Of course, they don't have the experience like our Brazilian players or UAE internationals, but they are very physical, very fit and they fought to the final whistle."
Club owner John Kapi Natto, who went on a recruiting drive to Fiji and the Solomon Islands, said the club lived by their motto of "No pain, no gain".
"It is a belief that nothing comes easy in life and if you want to achieve something, you have to accept pain and hard work," he said.
"Pain through sacrificing your time whole heartedly and cutting out bad habits that might hinder you to achieve the results you want to see."
