Manx anthem played by mistake at Argentina v El Salvador game Published duration 30 March 2015

image copyright Getty Images image caption Players slowly dropped their hands from their chests when the Manx anthem blared from loudspeakers

Organisers of a friendly match between El Salvador and Argentina have apologised for wrongly playing the anthem for the Isle of Man.

El Salvador fans whistled in disgust and their players were left baffled as the wrong anthem was played before the game in the United States on Saturday.

CMS Sports said it took "full responsibility for the honest mistake".

Ellan Vannin - the Manx name for the Isle of Man - and El Salvador are next to each other on a list of anthems.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Argentina's Lionel Messi did not play in the 2-0 victory in Maryland

More than 50,000 spectators were inside the FedExField stadium in Maryland to watch the exhibition match between El Salvador and Argentina.

Several El Salvador players slowly dropped their hands from their chests when the Isle of Man's anthem, O Land of Our Birth, was mistakenly played instead of Himno Nacional de El Salvador

Sports event company CMS Sports expressed regret over the "unfortunate incident".

A spokesman said it was not done with "malicious intentions" and that it would "take steps to prevent this from happening again".

Argentina, who were without talisman Lionel Messi, won the game 2-0 through goals from Ever Benega and Federico Mancuello.

Albert Roca the El Salvador coach did not mention the mix-up in his post match interview.

The FedExField is the home of the Washington Redskins American football team.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Darwin Ceren and Oscar Ceren walk off the field after losing to Argentina during an International Friendly

image copyright Getty Images image caption Federico Mancuello of Argentina celebrates his second half goal against El Salvador