Q & A Ian Mcshane

SI: Your father, Harry (below), played for Manchester United for four years during the 1950s. How good was he?

McShane: He was a classic Scottish left winger. Five-foot-seven, and he could run down the field at 90 miles an hour. Later he was a [public address announcer] for Manchester United at Old Trafford. He used to announce the team and play records.

SI: Are you going through World Cup withdrawal?

McShane: Yes. The wonderful thing about the World Cup is you get to be xenophobic for a month [laughs]: F--- the Portuguese. I hate the f------ French. And I loathe the Italians, but they do look better than anybody else, don't they? They have the best kits. I think they're designed by Armani.

SI: Are you over England losing?

McShane: I'm just surprised they lasted that long. They were terrible. [For England's loss to Portugal] I had my agent, Duncan Heath, here from England. I made him breakfast, and we both cursed the screen.

SI: What did you think of the TV coverage?

McShane: I actually called ESPN and ABC to complain. Brent Musburger should be sent back from whence he came.

SI: Has there ever been a great soccer film?

McShane: Well, I did a soccer film called Yesterday's Hero. It was written by [ Hollywood Wives author] Jackie Collins and based on the life of George Best. I used to drink with him in a club Jackie and her husband owned in London in the 1970s. Georgie was a sweetheart. It was not bad, but football films just don't work. To look like a professional soccer player is pretty impossible unless you are one. But our film was better than Victory. You had Sylvester Stallone playing a goalkeeper and Michael Caine as the most overfed prisoner of war I've ever seen.