Spain beat Belgium to advance to the World Cup semi-final, and Dave Portnoy has been getting involved in the conversation around the game.
That involved criticizing Belgium for a performance that left fans wanting, albeit against a dominant and composed Spain team.
Portnoy’s first comment centered on the fact that this is the side that knocked his USMNT out of the World Cup. He wrote: “The fact we lost to this Belgium team is so embarrassing.”
As Belgium grew into the game, though, he changed his tune. He acknowledged that at least one player was showing himself well. He was referring to Romelu Lukaku, who came on in the 60th minute and gave them an added bite.
As Portnoy put it: “Ok maybe Belgium isn’t that bad. At least that dude who dominated us and just dominated that Spanish defender isn’t that bad. He just ragdolls people in the box. Spain is still dominating, though.”
That’s when a fan chimed in, pointing to the fact that Portnoy didn’t bother to mention his name.
Their post read: “The moment people say “that dude” is why football will never have the same appeal in America. If you have time to type, you have time to look up who he is.”
That’s when the Barstool Sports founder went on the attack, saying: “Or if you know ball (which you clearly don’t) when I say “that dude” on Belgium everybody instantly knows who Im talking about. I wish Elon would ban casuals.”
Portnoy has been locked into this World Cup, and isn’t standing for suggestions that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about — recent convert though he may be.
Lukaku did make an impact when he came on, but not enough to overcome a Spain team that was beatable on Friday. That it wasn’t easy for the Spanish is a possible source of comfort for Portnoy and US fans.
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