MLS team FC Cincinnati disastrously tweeted a photo of the wrong person when announcing the arrival of their new manager, Manchester United legend Jaap Stam, leading to a maelstrom of memes at the club’s expense.
If you’re going to proudly announce the appointment of a true footballing icon as your new club manager, one of the first things you should probably do is check the photo you’re using is of the man in question.
Sadly that little piece of social media housekeeping proved a step too far for FC Cincinnati as they managed to welcome not 47-year-old former Dutch colossus Stam to the club, but barely-known Ajax FC youth coach Tinus van Teunenbroek instead.
They are both Dutch and have no hair… but that’s about it.
FC Cincinnati initially put up a picture of the wrong man when announcing Jaap Stam as their new manager ? pic.twitter.com/mtEJPAY86W
The internet of course, is not the most forgiving of places and within minutes the replies were pouring in from around the world, featuring a cavalcade of similarly chrome-domed celebrities including Walter White, Brad Friedel, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bruce Willis, Voldemort and many, many, MANY more…
Welcome Jaap! pic.twitter.com/4ef87LU4eo
Kudos, Jaap. pic.twitter.com/oTx6Jw1MHm
Welcome Jaap! pic.twitter.com/7GoVoXjJLX
pic.twitter.com/totJpvMmvj
Then came the responses from other MLS sides, including FC Dallas, Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew SC who welcomed action hero Jason Statham to the club.
Congrats, Jaap! pic.twitter.com/jiwqCHAqkQ
What up, Jaap! pic.twitter.com/HdKW7o2vmm
FC Cincinnati hastily deleted the tweet and put up another announcement – but the damage had been done.
ICYMI: Join us in welcoming our ?????? new head coach, Jaap Stam. #FCCincy ?: https://t.co/DP0FEepraDpic.twitter.com/dvLbByeHoC
Possibly not surprisingly, the club finished bottom of the MLS Eastern last season and lost their last two games before the Coronavirus lockdown.
As for van Teunenbroek, he took his new-found fame pretty well all things considered, revealing it’s not the first time he’s been mistaken for Stam, who won a Champions League while at United before going on to manage teams like Reading and Feyenoord.
“I heard about the incident through a mother of a former pupil of mine. Everyone now asks if I have made a transfer to America,” he told Fox News.
“I have once been mistaken for Jaap Stam in Ajax Showtime [a website] by Ajax itself. It happens to me more often, such as on vacation, that people shout: ‘Hey, that’s Jaap Stam!”’
There hasn’t been any comment on the incident from Stam himself as yet – but that may be because people are busy calling Patrick Stewart by mistake…
pic.twitter.com/9na7Gatue3
