By Joseph Solomon,

AIFF Media Team

RAMALLAH (PALESTINE): After losing by a solitary goal against hosts Palestine in their opening clash of the AFC U-19 Qualifiers, the Indian U-19 National Team gears up to take on United Arab Emirates (UAE) tomorrow (October 04, 2015) at the Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium in Al-Ram, Palestine. Kick-off is at 6:30PM IST. 

In an exclusive interview with www.the-aiff.com, Head Coach of the Indian colts, Lee Johnson talks at length about India’s opponents, match preparations, and a lot more. EXCERPTS:

How do you reflect on the loss against Palestine?

A moment of complacency cost us the match. You cannot control individual errors in the game of Football.

We gave Palestine too much time in the early minutes of the match and that is when they capitalized. In the second half, we were the better side and had done enough to earn a draw. However I am proud of the character showed by the Players in an intimidating atmosphere.  

Apart from a momentary lapse, India looked solid defensively and maintained shape against Palestine. Your thoughts?

We were maintaining our shape and that made it tough for Palestine to break us down. The lads worked hard throughout the course of the match. However you need to score in the game of Football to win and we did not score. It is as simple as that.

How do you assess India’s next opponents, UAE?

The game against UAE will be challenging for us, after losing our first match. We need to be switched on throughout the course of the game and play to our full potential. They (UAE) have good technical players that can cause us problems, but we need to neutralize the threat early-on and take control of the game.

How much of a mental test will it be for the Players when they face UAE?

You can’t change the past the only way to move is forward. The players must remain focused and concentrate on the game ahead. We are taking one match at a time and although UAE are a good side, we must not give them too much respect. We hope to create an upset and grab three points from the match.