Many countries consider a word representating a group as plural. I hear it on foreign sports announcing a lot. It is very awkward to my ear and incorrect in USA standard English. They would say “The team are... “.
I know what you mean. It’s kind of the same way when we use the name of a team, let’s say the Dallas Cowboys. The correct way to say it would be, “the Dallas Cowboys is in the NFC East”, but we would say, “The Dallas Cowboys are in the NFC East.”