Is England soccer player Danny Drinkwater missing the World Cup because of dehydration? No, that's not true: the news was invented by a satire site as a pun on his last name and got later picked up by an American "fauxtire" site. It is not real.
The story went viral via an article published by 8Shit on June 6, 2018 titled "Danny Drinkwater To Miss World Cup Due To Dehydration" (archived here) which opened:
Danny Drinkwater is set to miss England's World Cup campaign due to being hospitalised with dehydration. The news serves a devastating blow to the national team, who will now have to face the World Cup without their talismanic, £35 million midfielder.
High Press News were among the media frenzy outside of the Hospital For Sick People in Chelsea where resident Doctor John Obvious had this to say, "Due to the patient's name, we never ever thought this would happen. Most Danny's tend to stay well hydrated."
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail so they might have thought the story was real:
Danny Drinkwater To Miss World Cup Due To Dehydration
The last person you would expect. Danny Drinkwater is set to miss England's World Cup campaign due to being hospitalised with dehydration. The news serves a devastating blow to the national team, who will now have to face the World Cup without their talismanic, £35 million midfielder. High Press News were among the media frenzy [...]
But the original story appeared on the website of the High Press News, which carries following disclaimer:
The best website on the planet for all of your questionable football journalism.
Furthermore, 8shit.net carries a disclaimer on its about page that reads:
8Shit is a satire and humor website.
It contains cutting edge satire on a diverse range of topics.
The website publishes fake news, shocking rumors and reports with incisive sarcasm, and humor.
We also post crazy real news which often sounds too good to be true.
And an additional disclaimer in the footer of every page:
8Shit is a satire news and humor website. All its content is fiction (except those posts under the "serious" category) and shouldn't be taken as real. All references, names and marks or institutions in this website are used as contextual elements, like in any novel or science-fiction story.
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