Twitter went crazy during England's World Cup defeat to Italy on Saturday. The London Evening Standard says Liverpool youngster Raheem Sterling stole the English headlines as the Three Lions put in an encouragingly expansive performance.
But it was the 18-year-old's club team-mate Steven Gerrard, starting in his third World Cup, who sent social media into overdrive.
Of 7.2 million Tweets about last night's Group D encounter in Manaus, Gerrard was the most-mentioned player in white, while match-winner and former Manchester City man Mario Balotelli was the hottest Italian topic.
Lead by example: Gerrard was the most-mentioned man in white Twitter was a hive of football-related discussion throughout the match, but Daniel Sturridge sparked a frenzy as the social media site peaked at 219,637 Tweets-per-minute in the wake of his first World Cup goal.
Spikes in online chatter were also seen as Claudio Marchisio and Mario Balotelli scored, but neither could top the moment Wayne Rooney, playing in an unfamiliar role on the left, fed Sturridge for the equaliser.
