Manchester City striker Erling Haaland sparked discontent in Sweden as his name’s resemblance to a county called Haaland undermined a campaign to lure tourists to the coastal province while shining with Premier League champions.
And due to typos due to the similarity of the two names, social media users looking to explore the Swedish province find endless posts about the brilliant Norwegian striker.
It got to the point that Jimmy Sandberg, head of the “Visit Holland” campaign, wrote an open letter urging fans and journalists to verify the accuracy of the Norwegian striker’s name.
He wrote: We are Holland. It’s Haaland. The popularity of the football phenomenon is completely undermining our online presence. Desperately, we now see that all our efforts to promote Hollande are quickly waning.
Netizens looking for images of Hollande’s landscapes and activities will find countless images of the City striker, who has shone in the English Premier League, scoring 17 goals in his first 11 league games.
Sandberg told the BBC: “Ever since Haaland came to Manchester City and scored all these goals, he has been on our hashtags and search engines.
