USA fans have been left baffled after noticing their national anthem was tweaked ahead of their World Cup game against Australia on Friday night. Mauricio Pochettino’s side have been proving everyone wrong so far this summer, with a 4-1 win over Paraguay last week setting the tone for a host nation determined to show its passion for the beautiful game.

But while the football has done much of the heavy lifting – they are 2-0 up against the Socceroos at the time of writing – the atmosphere in the stands has also underlined how far the beautiful game has come in the United States in recent years. However, there was confusion ahead of their second match, which took place at Seattle’s Lumen Field.

Their iconic ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ anthem rang out at full volume around the stadium, but something was noticeably missing, and FIFA protocol meant many supporters were hearing a version they had never encountered before.

USA Fans Baffled As National Anthem Was Sped Up Before Australia Game

Troy Wayrynen / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters

Many viewers noticed that the anthem was sped up, with one X user remarking: “WOW I have never heard the US National Anthem played at that pace. The crowd couldn’t even keep up!” But the reaction to the slight tweak wasn’t all positive, with another commenting (watch the sped-up version below):

Elsewhere, a third wrote: “The tempo was 2x normal speed for the song. It was amazing. Normalize this,” as a fourth concluded: “Speeding up the national anthem was a mistake, it ruined a beautiful moment.”

Why FIFA Protocol is at Fault for ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ Change

Ahead of the USMNT’s opening World Cup game against Paraguay in Los Angeles last week, stars including Katy Perry, Lisa and Future headlined the third of the tournament’s three opening ceremonies before country music duo Dan + Shay performed “The Star Spangled Banner” before kickoff.

Before the second group-stage game against Australia in Seattle, however, no performers were booked to sing either national anthem. That is the standard format for most World Cup matches and international games in general. Exceptions were made only for the opening matches involving the tournament’s three host nations: the United States, Mexico and Canada. Instead, a band played both national anthems, with fans at Lumen Field invited to sing along.

As one fan explained, it made a welcome change from other sports, as they wrote: Wonderful to hear @USMNT fans belt out the national anthem at the @FIFAWorldCup. Been to many @NFL and @NBA games, where there is a dragged-out anthem sung by someone always putting a twist on it, so no one dare join in. People love to sing!”

Tottenham Hotspur have suffered a blow with the news that one of their top transfer targets is ready to reject them to join Arsenal instead.

Tottenham are showing no signs of slowing down or minimising their ambition as they go all out in the summer transfer window, with three deals already completed.

Spurs have already announced the signings of Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi on free transfers, with the duo bringing a wealth of Premier League experience with them to boost a backline that has struggled in recent seasons.

The pair will be joined at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium by Jan Paul van Hecke after a deal worth £52m was agreed with Brighton and Hove Albion, who have made two bid to sign Spurs sensation Luka Vuskovic.

Now, after bolstering the defence and also tying Pedro Porro down to a new long-term contract, it appears as though attention is turning to make changes to De Zerbi’s midfield.

The Italian has a plethora of options to choose from in the centre of the park with Rodrigo Bentancur, Conor Gallagher, Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray available to him, but there have been talks over potential moves for three central midfielders in recent weeks – Joao Palhinha, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali.

Sandro Tonali Makes Decision on Next Club

via Reuters

While Tottenham have been in talks over a deal to sign Joao Palhinha from Bayern Munich on a permanent deal following his loan spell in north London, Spurs have also made attempts to bring Tonali and Fernandes to the club as well.

According to David Ornstein, De Zerbi wants to land both Tonali and Fernandes as he looks to significantly strengthen his squad for next season, but whether that is achievable is another question.

SportsBoom have delivered some bad news for the Italian though, as they claim that despite the 47-year-old holding positive talks with Tonali about working together at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the £55m Newcastle signing’s preference would be to join Arsenal if both clubs had offers accepted by Newcastle.

Tottenham’s Chances Remain Alive

via Reuters

While Tonali has made his stance clear on his preferred next move, it means nothing if Arsenal don’t firm up their interest in the player.

Reports emanated at the end of the January transfer window from the player’s side that the Gunners had been in contact over a move for Tonali, but nothing materialised at the time.

Given they are now the Premier League champions and the player has huge respect for Mikel Arteta, it isn’t too surprising that he would prefer a move to the Emirates. After all, the Gunners will compete in the Champions League next term and Spurs have no European football on offer.

Another big hurdle for Tottenham in their bid to sign Tonali is Newcastle’s price tag, with SportsBroom claiming that they are demanding up to £120m to sell their star midfielder this summer.

Spurs would need to obliterate their transfer record to land the Italy international, and now it is up to ENIC how far they are willing to go to land a player De Zerbi really wants.

Manchester United are set to complete the signing of young Liverpool striker Vincent Joseph after he agreed to sign a scholarship deal at Old Trafford, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

Man United are INEOS have been in overdrive attempting to strengthen Michael Carrick’s first-team squad as the club prepares to participate in the Champions League again for the first time in three seasons.

The Red Devils have completed one deal to sign Ederson from Atalanta as they plot a major midfield rebuild, with Casemiro leaving the club and Manuel Ugarte likely to join the Brazilian through the Old Trafford exit door if the club get their way.

United have had to turn their back on top midfield targets like Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson and Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali because of the fees involved, while their ‘dream’ Casemiro replacement Aurelien Tchouameni currently looks unlikely to leave Real Madrid.

As well as bolstering their first-team, club chiefs will also be looking to secure some of the best young players around for their youth sides, as they did with the likes of Sekou Kone, Chido Obi, Diego Leon and Cristian Orozco in recent years.

Now they are set to pull off another big transfer coup in the youth game.

Vincent Joseph Set to Join Man United

According to O’Rourke, posting on X, Liverpool and England Under-16 striker Vincent Joseph is now set to leave Anfield and join Manchester United.

The 16-year-old has agreed a scholarship deal at Old Trafford, as he looks to make the short trip across the north west in the coming weeks.

Joseph has caught the eye of United scouts after scoring eight goals in nine caps for the England U16 side, while he scored three goals in two matches at U18 level for Liverpool in March and April.

Man United Eyeing Senior Striker Deal

While it could depend on what happens with the futures of Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee this summer, United are considering bringing in a senior striker to help Benjamin Sesko in the summer transfer window.

Carrick has Bryan Mbeumo and Zirkzee who can start in the centre-forward position if Sesko doesn’t start, but if United want to compete strongly in the league and the Champions League then it would be no surprise if they looked to bring in a new centre-forward, and even more so if Zirkzee does leave.

Striker links haven’t been widespread so far this summer, but there have been links to Robert Lewandowski, Dusan Vlahovic, Victor Osimhen and Jean-Philippe Mateta of Crystal Palace this summer.

The former duo are available on free transfers, although Lewandowski has held talks with Chicago Fire over a move to the MLS.