Gary Lineker Leaps to Wayne Rooney's Defense vs. Twitter 'Buffoons'

As a former world-class striker and ex-England international, Gary Lineker knows all about playing at the top level of the game.

The Match of the Day and BT Sports host is also well accustomed with dealing with negativity and Twitter trolling and, in the wake of Wayne Rooney announcing his retirement from international football, felt those poor opinions on the Three Lions' record goalscorer were in bad taste.

So much so, in fact, that Lineker couldn't help but fire a barb at those who were celebrating the end of the Manchester United legend and Everton star's career on the international stage:

So many buffoons denouncing @WayneRooney's international career. You have no idea how good he is or how hard it is. Stick to playing FIFA.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) August 23, 2017

Lineker is right in his assessment of Rooney's achievements, despite his failure to win a major international trophy with England. You don't reach 119 caps and eclipse Sir Bobby Charlton's striking haul if you don't have something about you.

That didn't stop some fans from replying en masse to Lineker in the aftermath of his tweet, and some felt obliged to launch attacks back at him - some even in a humorous manner:

Stick to ya Walkers adverts
— Jones ☆ 🎮 (@RockyWhu) August 23, 2017

@GaryLineker People are entitled to an opinion! These "buffoons" pay your ridiculous wage from the BBC!
— Chris Ratcliffe (@ratcliffe_1985) August 23, 2017

I picked Rooney four times to play for England on Football Manager, so I think I know more than a TV presenter!
— George Bernard Shaw (@Melonhead999) August 23, 2017

Pro evolution is clearly the intellectuals game of choice
— James Kavanagh (@kavjames) August 23, 2017

Winning division 1 on Ultimate team is harder than scoring 53 goals for England let me tell you
— Shaun Myers (@ShaunyMyers) August 23, 2017

It's good to witness that some fans actually see the funny side of Lineker's FIFA jibe, if nothing else!

Everyone else? Let's just a nice cup of tea and calm ourselves down, eh?