Fans edit Tuan Tai's Wikipedia profile after draw with Indonesia

(Baonghean.vn) - Much information about the player from Nghe An on Wikipedia was changed to include the position of 'wooden leg' and 'the worst striker in the history of U23 Vietnam'.

Playing in the fourth match of Group B, SEA Games 2017 against Indonesia, striker Ho Tuan Tai disappointed with many missed shots. After the match ended in a 0-0 draw, it seemed that immediately, Ho Tuan Tai’s profile on Wikipedia was changed by fans to “known as the worst striker in the history of the Vietnam U23 team”, position “wooden leg”….

Fans also added some information such as "Ho Tuan Tai is a football player and carpenter, born into a family of carpenters", "his special ability is to trap teammates in offside positions"... This malicious information only existed for a short time on Wikipedia and was later edited.

Tuan Tai holds his head in disappointment after a missed shot. Photo: VnExpress

Not only was his information on Wikipedia edited, after the match, many Vietnamese fans went to “dig up” this player’s personal Facebook. Some photos and statuses posted by Tuan Tai a long time ago, in just a few hours, were flooded with thousands of comments, most of which were criticisms of this striker. Many fans believed that the draw with Indonesia was due to Tuan Tai’s finishing error. Meanwhile, there were also some comments sympathizing with the 22-year-old player…

Tuan Tai's edited profile on Wikipedia. Photo: Tien Hung

Before that, despite creating a series of dangerous opportunities and playing with one more player for more than 30 minutes at the end of the match, U22 Vietnam only had a goalless draw with U22 Indonesia. Notably, within just a few minutes of playing with one more player, Vietnam had two situations where they put the ball into the Indonesian net but were penalized for offside.

In Tuan Tai's shot, if he had been more alert, he could have given the ball to Cong Phuong, who was not in an offside position, to finish. At the end of the match, Tuan Tai disappointed again when he could not beat the opposing team's goalkeeper in a face-to-face situation. In this situation, the Nghe An striker was in a very favorable position, had time to adjust the ball, but instead of shooting low at the near corner, he kicked straight at the opponent. The ball then bounced off the crossbar and went out.

Coach Huu Thang's students wasted many opportunities in the match against Indonesia. Photo: VnExpress

In football, it is not uncommon for players to have their Wikipedia profiles edited after disappointing performances. In May 2016, Liverpool player Alberto Moreno made a mistake that led to two goals in the Europa League final. The English team later lost 3-1 to Sevilla.

Shortly after the match, Moreno’s Wikipedia profile was edited to read “played for Liverpool from 2014 to 17/5/2016” and “played for Sevilla on 18/5/2016” (the day of the final). In the achievements section, the editor also soon added: “One game and two goals for Sevilla”!

Tien Hung