Candour comes easy to those who have faced life square on and dangled both ways of its middle.

Liverpool legend Steve McMahon played with raw courage and primal aggression to earn his midfield the synonym of minefield for the enemy forwards. He was the darling of English fans and part of two FA Cup winning Liverpool sides.

But the flip remains that he could only don 17 England caps and his performance on the biggest stage of football - the World Cup - was decidedly marginal. McMohan knows the agony and the ecstasy of football. The best bit is that he shares it with remarkable frankness though with a strong bias for his English roots.

“My international career left a lot to be desired. I was a part of the Three Lions (England) for six darned years and got only 17 caps. Sometimes, you just can’t change your destiny,” he said.

But his loyalties lie firm. The only player to have captained Merseyside rivals Everton and Liverpool said that there are three clear reasons why England would win the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

“Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and John Terry. Terry provides the spine, Gerrard the strength to the midfield and Rooney the striking ability. That boy (Rooney) loves the big stage and plays his best when it really matters,” said McMohan whose live remarks will enliven the proceedings on ESPN-Star which, according to main man RC Venkateish, “has exclusive rights to the World Cup and will not have to share the feed with Doordarshan”.

The best part about a World Cup according to McMahon was its ability to showcase obscure talent from less acclaimed football nations like “Trinidad and Tobago”. “We see players doing so well for their clubs but it is interesting to see how they cope with the pressure of being on the big stage,” he said. “The World Cup can make heroes out of unlikely talent.”

Macca, as he was fondly called, urges for more professionalism to spur the game in India. “For a country of a billion people, it is ridiculous that the national team hasn’t been able to make its presence felt. India need big coaches.”

From his famous “I’ll kick my brother if he comes in my way” nature while playing to his “Oh Gazza was mad as a bloody hatter!” description of the off-field antics of Paul Gascoigne today, McMahon’s boots may be off but his bite sure isn’t. Along with McMahon, Harsha Bhogle will also look to extend his conversational brand of commentary to football during the World Cup telecast.