U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan's appearance in a Wells Fargo ad declaring "my other team is Mexico," has touched a nerve and sparked backlash online.
A bank's "my other team is Mexico" ad has touched a U.S. soccer nerve and sparked backlash on social media.
The Wells Fargo ad features native Californian soccer star Landon Donovan, who played on the U.S. men's national team, calling upon U.S. soccer fans to support Mexico in the 2018 World Cup, Fox News reported.
"USA fans, our team may not be in Russia, but our neighbors to the south are," Donovan said in a post shared to Twitter on behalf of the bank. "So join me and their proud #sponsor @WellsFargo to cheer on our other team, Mexico."
Mexico is in top form, having defeated defending champion Germany 1-0 in an opening match of the World Cup on Sunday in what is possibly the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
The rest of the world may be waging bets that the team goes on to deliver a solid performance in the World Cup but for the U.S. it is a sensitive topic.
The two countries have been locked in a fierce soccer rivalry that dates back dozens of years, ESPN noted.
In the past, the U.S. has had the upper hand over Mexico however, in a turn of events, the team did not qualify for the World Cup while its rivals did.
Soccer fans are now faced with a choice — choose another team to cheer on or remain neutral until the U.S. qualifies for a later tournament.
For many, choosing to support Mexico was asking too much.
"Mexico is not my team," tweeted former American soccer star Cobi Jones while Taylor Twellman, a former U.S. player who now works for ESPN, tweeted he would "rather cut off my toe" than cheer for Mexico, according to Fox News.
Many of Donovan's followers on Twitter also had something to say about his post.
The criticism was enough to warrant a follow-up tweet from Donovan explaining why he appeared in the ad declaring his support to Mexico.
"(M)y heart bleeds red, white and blue and no one should ever question my allegiance to and support of US Soccer and all of its national teams," he said in the post, adding that at the same time he believed in supporting one another and building bridges, not barriers.