Copa America welcomes Uruguay to the U.S. with wrong national anthem
Welcome to the United States, Uruguayan national team! We Americans are so happy that you are here for the USA's first turn in more than two decades hosting a world-class soccer tournament!
Now, before we kick things off, let's hear that stirring Uruguayan national anthem!
Wait. Oops.
You May Also Like
Organizers for the Copa América Centenario -- a tournament pitting national teams from the Americas and the Caribbean against one another -- apologized after playing the Chilean national anthem before Uruguay's opening match Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.
The two-minute video above is like watching a Monty Python sketch.
Behold each Uruguayan national team member looking around in bemusement while listening to the Chilean national anthem before taking on Mexico. (It's customary for the national anthems of both nations to be played before international soccer matches; Mexico got to hear the Mexican anthem Sunday.)
Now here's a GIF of Fox Sports going for an poignant shot of Uruguay star Edinson Cavani and his teammates as the Uruguayan anthem begins -- but, hearing the wrong tune, they look like they just drank spoiled milk.
Copa America organizers later released a statement blaming "human error" for the blooper.
But things went further downhill for Uruguay after the bungled anthem: Mexico won the match, 3-1.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Sam Laird is Mashable's Senior Sports Reporter. He covers the wide, weird world of sports from all angles -- as well as occasional other topics -- from Mashable's San Francisco bureau. Before joining Mashable in November 2011, his freelance work appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Slam, and East Bay Express. Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and basketball and burritos take up most of his spare time. Follow him on Twitter @samcmlaird.
