John Abraham was not UTV's first choice for their forthcoming film Goa, being directed by Vivek Agnihotri. Actor Saif Ali Khan has initially been signed to play the lead role of a footballer. However, the actor could not keep up with the pace and so UTV had no choice but to replace him.

According to sources, Saif did not shoot for the film but he started practicing football for at least ten days. He did not find the going easy as he was more often than not, short on stamina. Agnihotri too admits that Saif was the first choice. But he put it more diplomatically, saying that Saif had just finished Omkara and had gone to the States to shoot Ta Ra Rum Pum. He was the States for four months. The film was supposed to start once he came back, but the actor was so tired that he wanted to take a break for four months. But if Agnihotri waited four months for him, the film would have got unnecessarily delayed. Agnihotri adds that Saif is a great actor and that he would love to work with him some time. At the same time, he is all praise for his hero John Abraham. He is a dream come true for Agnihotri, who holds that John is to Goal what Ronaldo is to football. High praise indeed!. Besides John, Goal stars Bipasha Basu, Boman Irani and Arshad Warsi.