Fred was booed at the World Cup because the crowd mistakenly identified him with a different player who shared the same common name and was widely blamed for Brazil's poor performance in a previous tournament.
During a World Cup event, when the name of the 22-year-old Frederico Rodrigues Santos was announced before kickoff, he was met with a chorus of boos. This reaction stemmed from the crowd's assumption that he was the 31-year-old Frederico Chaves Guedes, commonly known as Fred, the Fluminense striker.
The Case of Mistaken Identity
The booing was a direct result of a mix-up:
- The Booed Player: Frederico Rodrigues Santos, a younger player.
- The Player the Crowd Thought He Was: Frederico Chaves Guedes, an older, more established striker.
Why the Other Fred Was Unpopular
The 31-year-old Frederico Chaves Guedes had become a significant target for public discontent following a prior World Cup. He was widely regarded as one of the primary scapegoats for the "disaster" of that tournament, leading to strong negative sentiment among Brazilian football fans. When the younger Fred's name was called, fans projected their frustration and disappointment from the previous event onto him, not realizing it was a different player.
This unfortunate case highlights how strong public perception and past performance can influence immediate reactions, even leading to mistaken identity in high-profile sporting events.