We are under pressure: Steven Dias

New Delhi: India lost the opening match of the Nehru Cup 1-0 to Lebanon on Wednesday and their performance was heavily criticized by the Indian mainstream media.

Speaking to Goal.com Indian international Steven Dias, who played in that match, admitted that from now on they were under pressure to win all the matches and qualify for the final. Dias said, "Yes, we are under a lot of pressure. We are the host nation as well as the defending champions and we are expected to do well. "Even I am not not happy with my performance against Lebanon on Wednesday. From now on we have to work really hard and win the next three matches. "But it won`t be easy." Dias also discussed the quality of the teams in the competition. He opined, "Lebanon are a very good team and are ranked higher than we are. So it was also going to be difficult playing against them. "People might think that Syria are the only good team in the competition but even Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka are good teams. So we have to play our best game and make sure that we win the next three matches and then win the final." Dias also gave his thoughts on the ground conditions at the Ambedkar stadium. He explained, "It is unfortunate that the ground was used for Independence Day celebrations prior to the start of the competition. Things like rain cannot be avoided but things like this can. "We had trained under excellent conditions in Barcelona but here things are different. We were disappointed to see the pitch before the start of our match (against Lebanon).” "I cannot comment on the organizers but Independence Day celebrations on the pitch could have been avoided." Steven Dias also seemed concerned about the injuries India have picked up. He pondered, "We have already lost (NS) Manju and Sameer Naik was already doubtful. So we have two players in the same position missing.” "Anwar (Ali) also has a knock, so it is going to be difficult without the injured players but we have to regroup quickly and make a quick comeback in the tournament by winning the next match." Goal.com