Some readers were a bit baffled by the front page
(Picture: The Sun)The Sun has been mocked for a front cover about football that scored an own goal in a number of ways.
The tabloid was attempting to fire up fans as the England team head into the quarter-final Euro 2020 game against Ukraine on Saturday. With a nod to the classic movie starring Michael Caine, they claimed England captain Harry Kane was going to “do an Italian Job on Ukraine”.
But clearly nobody in the office had watched the film, which is a comedy caper about a British gang attempting - and, crucially, failing - to steal gold from Italy. It also has no link to Ukraine and ends with the gang stuck in a car on a cliff with the gold, hanging precariously over the edge.
Is this what the Sun wants for the England team during the quarter-final game? Really? Probably not.
And reacting to the cover, the mockery rolled in:
People pointed out that the Italian Job is set in - you guessed it - Turin in Italy, not Ukraine, or even Rome, where the match will take place, and so the joke didn’t make sense:
you mean the film which takes place in Turin & ends in failure pic.twitter.com/aMceNSHPZR
— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) June 30, 2021
People always forget the Ukrainian element in The Italian Job. pic.twitter.com/MRfkFUTdDO
— Michael Glasper (@michaelglasper) June 30, 2021
Others pointed out that the film ends in failure:
Have The Sun not seen the end of the film? https://t.co/BeHlEkBdUU
— HappyToast ★ (@IamHappyToast) June 30, 2021
What, end up hanging over a cliff? https://t.co/gOxOqfrm6F
— Paul Mitchell💙 (@mrmitchell78) July 1, 2021
More people pointed out that the medley of cultural references were difficult to unpack. Michael Caine starred in the film, which is why they have spelled Kane as Caine, and Madness released a song in 1984 called “(My name is) Michael Caine”, hence The Sun making Kane do a strange quote and decking him out in glasses and a suit.
Love the references. First, you must know that Michael Caine starred in “The Italian Job” about a heist that takes place during a soccer game in Rome. Then you must know that the band Madness recorded a song called “My Name is Michael Caine.” Done showing off
— Monica Roman Gagnier (@beacongal) July 1, 2021
Look, there’s a lot going on here and none of it makes sense.
Fair play to them that's legit one of the worst front pages I've ever seen. https://t.co/ASMWgmaXz8
— Ross McCafferty (@RossMcCaff) June 30, 2021
When you have to spell out your cultural reference to your readers... pic.twitter.com/jXF8X458xC
— christhebarker (@christhebarker) June 30, 2021
We just hope the England team are better at their jobs than the production team at The Sun.
