Boston's mayor kissed it. Fans lined up for a glimpse of it

BOSTON, Oct 7: Boston's mayor kissed it. Fans lined up for a glimpse of it. Some paid for a picture with it. But the World Cup soccer trophy that toured Boston this week turned out to be an imposter -- and fans are fuming.

The gold-plated World Cup trophy that arrived in Boston's soccer-mad Italian north end amid a buzz of publicity on Wednesday as part of a tour by brewer Anheuser-Busch was a replica of the actual 18-carat, 37 cm trophy.

Some Boston soccer fans said they were crushed after learning the trophy's true identity yesterday in the Boston Herald newspaper which quoted an Anheuser-Busch official as saying the replica was just as important in Italy as the original.

Angelo Martiniello, a 32-year-old Italian immigrant who works at a coffee shop that was visited by the trophy, said that when he touched the trophy he originally thought he had seen and touched the same trophy that Italy's soccer team embraced when they won the 2006 title. ''I'm upset,'' he said.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said that he had understood the trophy was the real World Cup awarded to the Italian team and if was anything other he was deeply disappointed.

The object is making its way across the United States, under heavy security, on a tour sponsored by Anheuser-Busch Cos., a key sponsor of the 2006 and 2010 World Cup matches.

The Boston Herald quoted an Anheuser-Busch official as saying the replica will return to Italy and is the one Italy will keep as a symbol of its victory. The real trophy returns to FIFA headquarters in Switzerland, it said.

Anheuser-Busch officials were not immediately available to comment.

REUTERS