大象传媒

Haaland or Halland? Why a tourist board in Sweden is annoyed with people's spelling

Erling HaalandImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

This is Erling Haaland

It looks like some adults need to brush up on their spelling.

A tourist board in Sweden is feeling a little like a cheesed-off teacher at the moment - all because of a famous footballer.

Norway's Erling Haaland is arguably one of the best footballers in the world, but that doesn't mean people have learnt to spell his name...

But what does that have to do with Sweden? Let's take a look at why the Manchester City star is causing such a headache.

Haaland or Halland

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

This is Halland in Sweden

You can see why people might make the spelling mistake, but it's causing a lot of confusion online!

Erling Haaland: Footballer who has scored 22 goals in 15 games since joining Manchester City this season.

Halland: A region in Sweden known for some beautiful beaches.

Because so many people are spelling Erling's surname wrong, it means when people do actually want to look at posts about Halland, the place, they can't see anything other than the footballer!

Even Google thinks you mean Haaland rather than Halland when you search for the destination!

That's why the head of the Visit Halland tourism board is pleading with football fans to proof-read their social media posts.

Image source, Google
Image caption,

Even Google is unconvinced searches for the Swedish region are intentional

Mr Sandberg told 大象传媒 News: "When you write in Halland, looking for the beautiful region where we live in Sweden, you get Haaland all over the place.

"Since Haaland arrived at Manchester City and scored all those goals, we have been overwhelmed by his presence in our hashtags and in search engines."

He's also inviting the Manchester City star to come and visit in the area to try and settle the issue once and for all.

He said: "See you next summer in Halland, Haaland?"