A-League side Adelaide United have been left embarrassed with the club admitting they have handed a trial to a player that turned out to be completely fictional.
Adelaide announced on Wednesday that two overseas players had been offered a trial following an extensive search to locate new recruits.
The first was Portuguese striker Fábio Ferreira, formerly of Chelsea. No problem there.
But joining him would be a "promising" 25-year-old American named Dexter Rosales, who supposedly enjoyed stints with Ajax Amsterdam, Valencia and River Plate.
Reds coach John Kosmina reportedly spoke to the player's agent before Adelaide football director Michael Petrillo confirmed Rosales was penciled in to train with the club.
"Rosales has been recommended to us," Petrillo said. "He's paying his own way here."
However, Adelaide have now acknowledged that they have been fooled by an elaborate hoax.
"It has been a strange few days with all the speculation around this mystery man - it doesn't look great from our end," an Adelaide media spokesman told Sportal.
"We're not the first club to be given a false lead with a supposed trialist, but other clubs probably just don't promote it to the world like we did."
Meanwhile, his supposed former employers Ajax, Valencia and River have all denied any knowledge of Rosales.
"Dexter Rosales was never a contracted player here at Ajax and never was on trial," an Ajax media official told the Advertiser.
"I checked Google and saw that there was a (picture) card with the name Dexter Rosales, but that picture of the player in the Ajax kit was Mauro Rosales.
"Mauro was a player from Argentina who was at the club until 2006, but the card and text is not 'Ajax official'.
"We do not know if Dexter Rosales does or does not exist, but we can confirm that he never was at Ajax."
A Valencia press official said: "He was not a player of Valencia CF."
While a River media officer stated: "River Plate does not have any registration that says Mr Rosales was a former player."
Adelaide's scouts might be satisfied with the non-existent player after viewing the YouTube video below.
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| This is former Ajax Amsterdam player Mauro Rosales. Not Dexter Rosales Photo: Getty Images |
Adelaide announced on Wednesday that two overseas players had been offered a trial following an extensive search to locate new recruits.
The first was Portuguese striker Fábio Ferreira, formerly of Chelsea. No problem there.
But joining him would be a "promising" 25-year-old American named Dexter Rosales, who supposedly enjoyed stints with Ajax Amsterdam, Valencia and River Plate.
Reds coach John Kosmina reportedly spoke to the player's agent before Adelaide football director Michael Petrillo confirmed Rosales was penciled in to train with the club.
"Rosales has been recommended to us," Petrillo said. "He's paying his own way here."
However, Adelaide have now acknowledged that they have been fooled by an elaborate hoax.
"It has been a strange few days with all the speculation around this mystery man - it doesn't look great from our end," an Adelaide media spokesman told Sportal.
"We're not the first club to be given a false lead with a supposed trialist, but other clubs probably just don't promote it to the world like we did."
Meanwhile, his supposed former employers Ajax, Valencia and River have all denied any knowledge of Rosales.
"Dexter Rosales was never a contracted player here at Ajax and never was on trial," an Ajax media official told the Advertiser.
"I checked Google and saw that there was a (picture) card with the name Dexter Rosales, but that picture of the player in the Ajax kit was Mauro Rosales.
"Mauro was a player from Argentina who was at the club until 2006, but the card and text is not 'Ajax official'.
"We do not know if Dexter Rosales does or does not exist, but we can confirm that he never was at Ajax."
A Valencia press official said: "He was not a player of Valencia CF."
While a River media officer stated: "River Plate does not have any registration that says Mr Rosales was a former player."
Adelaide's scouts might be satisfied with the non-existent player after viewing the YouTube video below.
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