The gold-plated World Cup trophy that arrived in Boston's soccer-mad Italian north-end amid a buzz of publicity on Wednesday as part of a tour by brewer Anheuser-Busch was a replica of the actual 18-carat, 14-inch trophy.

Some Boston soccer fans said they were crushed after learning the trophy's true identity on Friday.

Angelo Martiniello, a 32-year-old Italian immigrant who works at a coffee shop that was visited by the trophy, said when he touched it he thought he had seen and touched the same trophy Italian players embraced when they won the 2006 title.

"I'm upset," he said.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said that he had understood the trophy was the real World Cup awarded to the Italian team and would be deeply disappointed if it was anything else.

The object is making its way across the United States, under heavy security, on a tour sponsored by Anheuser-Busch Cos., a key sponsor of the 2006 and 2010 World Cup matches.

"We apologise for any misunderstanding about the World Cup Winner's Trophy visit to the United States," Anheuser-Busch spokeswoman Francine Katz said in a statement late on Friday.

She said the trophy would be awarded to the winners of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and was not the trophy awarded to Italy in July.

"We regret any embarrassment this caused civic leaders, residents of the Boston-area and our local wholesaler," she said.

Money from people who paid to be photographed with the trophy would be donated to charity and the brewer would cover the city's costs for the event, she added.