American magazine Vanity Fair has come under fire after it published an article saying Prince William had met with the "British soccer team" ahead of the World Cup.
The new Prince of Wales paid a surprise visit to the England team's headquarters at St George's Park before Gareth Southgate's squad flew out to Qatar earlier this week. During his visit, he told Gareth Southgate's side that "the country is behind you," adding: "We are all rooting for you."
The Prince, who is president of the English FA, did not meet with the Wales squad before they headed to Qatar, with actor Michael Sheen criticising the royal's meeting with the England squad as "entirely inappropriate," asking if the heir to the throne felt even "a shred of embarrassment" during the visit given his Prince of Wales title.
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Sheen was not alone in his view that the visit was inappropriate, with many Welsh fans agreeing with him. Prince William later explained why he supports England in football and Wales in rugby on a visit to the Senedd, which you can read here.
Meanwhile, some Welsh citizens were left further frustrated when a Vanity Fair article appeared online with the headline: "Prince William surprises the British soccer team ahead of the FIFA World Cup."
The article continues: "Prince William gave the British soccer team a morale boost heading into the FIFA World Cup next week. The Prince of Wales made a surprise appearance at the soccer squad's headquarters on Monday evening to help hand out the team's new World Cup jerseys to all twenty-six players."
It later makes reference to the English squad, with the line: "William also received an England jersey of his own signed by the entire team as their gift to the royal."
Fans were left baffled by the mistake, with many people in Wales angered at Rob Page's side being completely ignored in the coverage. Some slammed it as "embarrassing", with others calling for the magazine to issue an apology for the error.
In response to the article, which is still online in its original form two days after it was published, one commented: "Please correct this, there is no British team. We have our own Welsh team, who are playing the USA in the World Cup on Monday". Another wrote: "There is not a 'British' soccer team. You're referring to one of the four British nations - in this case England. One of the other British nations is also at the World Cup - Cymru. Please be better."
"It’s the England football team, not British Soccer team," wrote another. "Vanity Fair, you’ve had a ‘mare. It’s the equivalent of calling the Chicago Bulls the Illinois dunkball team."
Others were stunned that the article was not taken down or edited after the mistake had been pointed by hundreds of people online.
The mistake comes just days before Wales take on the USA in their first World Cup game since 1958. The Group B opponents will go head-to-head on Monday, November 21, with Rob Page's side also facing Iran and England in the group stages as they look to make it through to the knockout stages.
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