X-rated anthem makes Englishman toast of Croatia

The team may have crashed and burned, the distraught supporters will not be buying plane tickets to Austria or Switzerland, but one Englishman may be on his way to Euro 2008.

Tony Henry, the opera singer tasked with singing the national anthems before England’s game with Croatia earlier this week, has become an unlikely hero of the Croatian game after appearing to make a somewhat risque slip of the tongue while belting out the nation’s tune.

The singer, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, should have sung “Mila kuda si planina”, which translates roughly as “You know my dear how we love your mountains”. Instead, he appears to have sung “Mila kura si planina”, which, although moderately nonsensical, can be interpreted as “My dear, my penis is a mountain”.

Footage of the build-up to the game, which Croatia won 3-2 to end England’s hope of qualification, shows Croatian players and mascots giggling as Mr Henry performs. Yesterday Croatian websites were buzzing with suggestions that his gaffe calmed the players, and that he should be drafted in to perform before every match the team plays in next year’s championships.

Both the Croatian Embassy, their football federation, and Mr Henry sought to play down the error today, claiming that the footage was inconclusive.

Mr Henry told The Times: “It was almost a mistake, I smudged it. That particular line is an ancient dialect. Any idea that I was advertising the size of my appendage in any way is wrong. I didn’t know the meaning of any of it.”

The singer said that he had been practising the anthem for nearly a month and had received numerous congratulatory e-mails from Croatians. He said: “Musically it’s not that complicated so I assumed that it wouldn’t be hard to learn. I had other performances that were occupying me. I started off having to sing 12 lines but they slimmed it down to just two verses, eight lies. I’ve spoken to Croatians who say it was a stirring rendition and that I did well. But I obviously didn’t practice enough.”

The Croatian authorities were full of praise for Mr Henry, and insisted they had not heard any untoward words. Maja Ercig, of the Croatian embassy, said: “I was at Wembley and I didn’t hear it. I thought he sang beautifully. The language is not easy and I thought he did a good job. It’s completely silly.”

Davor Gagran, a spokesman for the Croatian Football Federation, said: “The diction of the singer was brilliant. Our language isn’t known very well outside our country and it’s very hard to speak. It was very unusual to see somebody who is not Croatian singing our anthem.

“If he said it I didn’t hear it. I’m sure the man who sang the song doesn’t know what the words mean. I don’t think that he did something wrong.”

Experts in Serbo-Croat contacted by The Times were reluctant to be quoted discussing the intricacies of the language’s anatomical swearwords. But Dr Vladislava Ribnikar, of Nottingham University’s School of Slavonic Studies, said: “The correct use of the word has a harsh “c” at the end, but “kura” would still get the message across.

“It would be used as a retort for when someone says something that you don’t think is true. It’s not something you would necessarily call someone - we would use the female anatomy for that.” After listening to Mr Henry’s rendition, she said: “Did he say it? It’s difficult to say.”

The best selling Croatian national newspaper, Vecernji List, reported yesterday that the Scotland-based singer was to be invited to perform at a Roman amphitheatre at Pula in western Croatia, in recognition of his performance.

Mr Henry said that he had not been approached to perform for the team again, but said: “If they do approach me and ask for me to got to the championships with them, I’ll have to go.”

Times readers can decide for themselves whether Mr Henry sang “kuda” or “kura”, by watching a video of the rendition.