PETALING JAYA, June 21 — The World Cup is the most talked about event according to a study by Adobe Systems, with more than 69 billion social media mentions.
On Twitter, football’s greatest show was clocking 219,637 tweets per minute on average.
But although the England team was overwhelmingly supported, it did not give them the much-needed boost as they went down tamely 2-1 to Uruguay.
The team is now on the verge of bowing out of the competition after it barely got going.
Although fans expressed understandable disappointment with the Three Lions, many took encouragement from their team’s performance.
BBC news presenter Jon Sopel (@BBCJonSopel) tweeted: “A pretty forlorn atmosphere at Sao Paulo airport with England fans waiting to fly back to Rio”.
Daniel Sturridge (@D_Sturridge) apologised to fans in his tweet: “I feel sick right now. Heartbroken I swear down. Sorry to the fans and Everyone back home. It ain’t over till it’s over. #gutted”.
Uruguayan goalscorer Luis Suarez uploaded a video on YouTube.
The football star said: “It was one of the best games I’ve played. It’s an amazing moment for me. Maybe a few days ago I thought this wouldn’t be possible. Before the game too many people in England laughed about my attitude over the last few years. This is a very good time for me. I want to see what they think now,” he said in the 30-second video.
Michael Owen (@themichaelowen), who scored 40 goals in his England career, said: “Going to bed. Can’t take the pain any longer”.
American R&B singer Rihanna (@rihanna) also tweeted: “Man they know better than to give Suarez that much room bruh!”
Many in Malaysia stayed up late to watch the match, among them Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
Khairy had tweeted a selfie of the two of them, with the caption “Terserempak dengan brader penyokong England ni sebelum mesyuarat Kabinet pagi tadi. Kesian gak tengok muka dia. (Bumped into this England supporter at this morning’s Cabinet meeting. His face says it all.)”
Meanwhile, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim sarcastically tweeted: “England still has a small chance; like democracy in Malaysia #fb”.
User ?@stephendngn said: “Ok, #England are basically out, so I guess that means I’m a #Uruguay fan, I support @LFC players no matter what”.
Another fan, @Stevie_W, tweeted: “Come on Cavani, smash these lads in and end their World Cup. #URUGUAY”.
@Ewangoldfinch said: “Can’t blame individuals for England losing we’ve got to accept we’re not dynamic or clinical enough as a team, not Gerrard’s fault #ENG”.
