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John Abraham is on a month-long high. “It’s the FIFA, man! Soccer (as he prefers to call it) is my favourite sport. It’s the energy of the game, it just gets to you the minute you watch it and you’re hooked for life.” Not many people know that John was in the Maharashtra state soccer team and even played at the nationals. “But academics beckoned and I had to choose between doing my MBA and kicking a football,” he says, still reminiscing about the days he played in slush in the grounds close to his home.

So who’s he rooting for? “Although the Brazilian team is good, I don’t think they deserve to win. I would rather a European country won. May be England, Italy or Germany.” But his favourite player, he says, is Ronaldinho. “I used to like Zidane too, but he’s old now and losing energy. If you’ve watched his recent matches, I find the trademark Zidane moves missing.”

And all this World Cup talk has him wondering about the state of Indian football. “I think they definitely need to brush up their skills. Come to think of it, it’s not just football but all kinds of sport here that need a lift.” Cricket is being given too much of importance, he feels. “We’ve carried the madness too far. It’s about time we encouraged other games. And instead of sending pot-bellied officials abroad, it would do a lot more good to start sending players.” He also thinks it’s embarrassing that a nation of one billion can’t produce a single good athlete or sportsman.