John Abraham is at his most animated when he’s talking about football. “Have you seen this new guy called Lionel Messi (Argentina footballer)?” he asks. “He’s brilliant. I can’t wait for him to play in the next World Cup,” he exults. No wonder then that his next film ‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’ is all about that fantastic game.

“I am essentially a very sporty person. I love football. I follow it very keenly, so when I was offered this film, I couldn’t say no. However, this is not just about football, it is about the stories behind this beleaguered team of over aged footballers who play for pride,” he says.

“There is also an element of racism in the film. I was surprised to note that even during the shooting of the film. We experienced this with the British actors. Racism is a reality in Britain, no matter how much it is suppressed,” he says.

Things however are changing, John says adding that a few years ago, many people he knew would try to hide their passports on trips abroad as they didn’t want make it obvious that they were Indian. “Poverty, backwardness, and the general state of our country made a lot of people hide their Indian status, but now things have changed drastically,” he says.

“In fact I was in Rome for the premiere of ‘No Smoking’ recently, and at the immigration, I just slammed my passport on the counter, and told the lady, “I am from India, and some day we are going to rule you,” he says with a smile.

Coming back to ‘Goal’ itself, John admits that there were creative differences between him and Arshad Warsi, but they got blown out of proportion because of  media scrutiny.

“The only differences were on the sets. Off the sets, Arshad is a wonderful person. I have no problems with him. Just because we had arguments regarding  the film, some people have gone ahead and spread rumours. There is absolutely no truth to these things,” he adds.