England’s all-time record goalscorer was honoured in a BBC documentary tonight.
Gary Lineker took viewers behind the scenes in Wayne Rooney’s life, looking at the Manchester United captain’s upbringing in Liverpool, his meteoric rise and his career to date.
There was, understandably, no mention of Rooney’s awful recent form, with the documentary instead focusing on the everyman element of Rooney’s personality, and his record breaking feats before the age of 30.
Legends of world football, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Bobby Charlton and David Moyes also gave their insights into England’s record goalscorer.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Stephen Hunt started by reminiscing over past battles with Rooney, before reflecting on his own playing situation…
Great days,will look back one day and enjoy these days for now I need to get playing again!!! pic.twitter.com/gAohBw5TiJ
— stephen hunt (@stephenhunt1010) October 5, 2015
While football journalist Olivier Holt believes behind-the-scenes documentaries, and not improved coaching, will help English football…
Terrific @GaryLineker documentary on @WayneRooney . Football in this country would benefit greatly if there were more insights like this
— Oliver Holt (@OllieHolt22) October 5, 2015
There was amusement at Cristiano Ronaldo’s backhanded compliment to himself…
Ronaldo, on a tribute programme for Rooney: "Yeah, I know how hard it is to be number one." Brilliant.
— Alex Shaw (@AlexShawTel) October 5, 2015
Whilst Joey Barton showed solidarity for his fellow Scouser…
Good programme on @waynerooney from the BBC. Normal, down to earth fella who happens to be greatest goal scorer in English history.
— 👑 Joey Barton 👑 (@Joey7Barton) October 5, 2015
A former Arsenal fox-in-the-box was found alive and well, and tweeting too…
https://twitter.com/FJ10official/status/651144538107457538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
And the Telegraph’s Paul Hayward felt the real Wayne was at last apparent…
The Gary Lineker documentary showed the Wayne Rooney everyone in football tells you about. A good idea to get that out there.
— Paul Hayward (@_PaulHayward) October 5, 2015
Although the elephant in the room wasn’t addressed…
Fitting that Rooney's retirement as a top-class pro is celebrated with a documentary about past achievements. 😀
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) October 5, 2015
BBC are heavily promoting their doc: Rooney, the man behind the goals. This is the same Rooney who hasn't scored an away goal in over a year
— Niall McGarry (@MrNiallMcGarry) October 4, 2015
This Wayne Rooney documentary is going to make me sad because I'll remember how good he once was. And compare him to how he is now.
— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) October 5, 2015
But Rooney came across well, and isn’t that what really matters from professional footballers?
Great documentary on @WayneRooney #manbehindthegoals seems a good guy and what a top player he's been 🙌 #legend
— Jordan Lukas (@JordanLukas_) October 5, 2015
Very good documentary on @WayneRooney every young sportsperson would learn from it and should watch it. #recordbreaker
— AP McCoy (@AP_McCoy) October 5, 2015
No more genuine 'public' couple than @WayneRooney & @ColeenRoo. Down-to-earth, warm, funny & hilarious over dinner. #manbehindthegoals
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 5, 2015
