12 August 2023 , 08:00
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England's Lionesses have made it through to the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup 2023 and are about to take on Colombia.
Among the team is forward Chloe Kelly, who is perhaps best known for scoring the winning goal against Germany in the Euros 2022 and taking the squad to victory.
The goal came during extra-time after Ella Toone and Lina Magull had exchanged strikes within the 90 minutes and Kelly's celebration afterward went viral, with the footballer taking off her shirt and wildly spinning it above her head, while wearing a Nike sports bra.
Sports fans have been quick to compare it to former USA star Brandi Chastain's iconic celebration after she netted the winning penalty at the 1999 World Cup final.
The tweet sparked backlash (@GaryLineker/Twitter)A number of people quickly took to social media following this, to share messages for the Lionesses after their excess and praise the players like Kelly for their winning goals. However, one response to the win caused a stir on social media, with former England striker and TV presenter Gary Lineker being accused of "casual sexism" for his tweet.
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He posted a rather tongue-in-cheek message online, writing: "The @Lionesses have only gone and done it, and Kelly is England’s heroine, bra none." This ruffled feathers, with some branding it "most unwise" and "moronic". One person said: "Seriously Gary? An epic win, a game-changer for women's sport, a call to arms for young girls who have been told they can't. And you minimise this glory down to a joke about a woman's clothing/underwear. Casual sexism is rife here and the @Lionesses deserve better."
Someone else replied: "What a disappointing tweet. What these women have done today is epic and so important for young girls throughout the country. You've reduced it to sexism. Would you have talked about the men's underwear if they'd won tonight?" Following the backlash, the Match of the Day host deleted the tweet, claiming many had missed the context of his comment.
Lineker thought people took the comment out of context (Getty Images)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 the reaction to his post, he followed it up with another tweet, celebrating the Lionesses, but this time 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."
The 62-year-old later told Telegraph Sport that he was "dismayed" by the response to his tweet and he dislikes the way social media users "pounce" on one another. He explained: "It dismays me. You have always had to be careful what you say but now I think it's another social media addition where people will pounce on anything. I like debate, if it's civil, but when it becomes abusive that's a different ball game. I can't quite get my head round why people need to do that. But then there are angry people in the world and social media gives them a platform to be angry."
Kelly herself has since commented on her iconic goal celebration, hinting that it was a homage to Bobby Zamora - a former England player who scored 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!"