Gary Lineker forced to delete tweet following backlash over Lionesses praise

Former England striker Gary Lineker was forced to delete a contentious tweet in the aftermath of the Lionesses' Euro 2022 glory.

Sarina Wiegman's side ended a long 56-year wait for a major trophy at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, with Chloe Kelly prodding home the winning strike during extra-time. That winner came after Ella Toone and Lina Magull exchanged strikes within the 90 minutes.

The goal triggered a mass outpouring of emotion across the nation and indeed on social media, with many taking to Twitter to hail the Lionesses for their success. Indeed, Manchester City striker Kelly was on the receiving end of plenty of praise for her winning goal.

Her celebration - taking off her shirt and wildly spinning it above her head while sporting a Nike sports bra - has been immortalised by many and also compared it to former USA star Brandi Chastain's iconic celebration after she netted the winning penalty at the 1999 World Cup.

Following the final whistle, Lineker produced a tongue-in-cheek comment. He wrote: "The @Lionesses have only gone and done it, and Kelly is England's heroine, bra none."

The tweet though ruffled a few feathers with some taking exception. Some suggested that it was "most unwise" whilst others accused the Match of the Day host of "casual sexism". Following that backlash, he revealed that he deleted the tweet as many had missed the context of his comment.

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He wrote: "It was just a play on words given the celebration. I do rubbish like that constantly on here, including on men's football. I've deleted it as many people didn't see the game so missed the context."

Despite Lineker's previous gaffe, he then followed that up with another tweet, once again toasting the Lionesses' success but this time by using an infamous quote of his own from the aftermath of Italia 90 that had been slightly altered. He wrote: "Football is a simple game. 22 women chase a ball for 90 minutes and, at the end, England actually win. Congratulations @lionesses. Fabulous."

Kelly herself has since commented on her celebration at the national stadium and hinted that it was her effort to copy Bobby Zamora - the former England man striking the winner for QPR during the 2014 playoff final.

Speaking after the game, she said: "I said to my family, the one moment that I've been to Wembley and it's been brilliant - it's the Bobby Zamora moment with QPR.

"I said to my family this morning, imagine we get a Bobby Zamora moment and it's me… and now it's happened! Bloody hell! Unbelievable! This is what dreams are made of!"