Hand Of Pod

The hundred and sixty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod is the first to fall neatly between two superclásicos, and Sam is joined by Andrés, Gustavo and Asli (and her canine companion Vinicius) to look back on last Thursday night's disappointingly dull 0-0 in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana semi-final, and forward to this Thursday's return leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors. At the weeken...

In the hundred and sixty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by English Dan for an afternoon espresso and a chat about an interesting week past and a thrilling one to come. We begin with some discussion of the latest declarations from the AFA, which shed a little (but just a little)light on how the Primera will look in 2015, but which fail to answer all the pertinent questions. After that,...

The hundred and sixty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded late in the week, because Friday was the fourth anniversary - one whole World Cup cycle! - of our first ever episode going online. Sam is joined by one of the HOPers from that first episode, English Dan, as well as by Andrés, Peter and Gustavo, to look back on a week which had just about everything in Argentine football; a highly cont...

Episode 164 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan for a congenial afternoon espresso and a chat about the past week in Argentine football. No fewer than four Primera matches were rained off last weekend, including those of the top three in the table, which allowed Racing, with a fifth win in seven matches, to move into third place. Dan, of course, is eager to give them full credit for this...

In episode 163 of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Peter and Andrés to discuss Carlos Tevez's return to the Argentine national team, ahead of the upcoming friendlies in England against Croatia at Upton Park and Portugal at Old Trafford. After that, we spend a good while wondering just how good this current River Plate team are, after Marcelo Gallardo's boys beat Estudiantes 2-1 in the Copa Sudamerica...

The hundred and sixty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés joined one last time (or so he claims) by Neil Clack, author of an actual published book. We look back on Rosario Central's 2-0 win over Newell's Old Boys in last weekend's clásico rosarino, and consider where Newell's go next, before reviewing the rest of the weekend's action - and a very satisfying seven days for Rive...

In the hundred and sixty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on Argentina's two recent friendlies in China - in Beijing against Brazil and in Hong Kong against Hong Kong (although neither of us saw the latter). We explain why the AFA won't be getting any money themselves from the Hong Kong match, before looking at the weekend's Primera action, which saw River Plate emerge as the...

The hundred and sixtieth episode of Hand Of Pod is a chance for Sam, Andrés and Peter to review Sunday's superclásico, in which River Plate and Boca Juniors played out a 1-1 draw in an extremely wet Estadio Monumental. A poor refereeing performance, a farcical pitch and, above all, an awful lot of rain were on the agenda for Sam (who was lucky enough to be there), whilst the others enjoyed it from...

In the hundred and fifty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés, Gustavo and Joel to preview this Sunday's clash between River Plate and Boca Juniors in the Monumental. We give an overview of the history of the fixture (and who better to guide us through it than Joel, who wrote the book on the rivalry?), and bring things up to date with a look at how both sides' campaigns have gone...

The hundred and fifty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan discuss Gerardo Martino's first real Argentina squad, after he was obliged to name an AFA-imposed one for the friendly against Germany earlier this month. We discuss why Carlos Tevez wasn't included, and what the inclusions of Erik Lamela and Javier Pastore tell us about where Martino is going with his side. The AFA are t...

The hundred and fifty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés beging with a look back at Sunday evening, when one-and-a-third matches were called off due to some 'orrible weather in (Greater) Buenos Aires throughout the day. We wish good luck to Jonás Gutiérrez in his fight against testicular cancer, and look back on the matches last weekend which actually did get played; Independiente...

In the hundred and fifty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter and Andrés are joined, surprisingly, by Neil Clack and we discuss a week of enormous confusion in the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association; dates have been moved back and forth for not one, not two, but three different competitions, but we give you the definitive say on when the superclásico will be played: it's the 5t...

The hundred and fifty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is a rather long one, because we've had a lot to cover; Sam, Peter and Andrés are joined by a special guest, the Sydney Morning Herald's Sebastian Hassett, who's been touring South America since the World Cup finished. We have two rounds of domestic action to look back on since the last episode, and those have included the sacking by Boca Juniors...

The hundred and fifty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod is one of those rare episodes which clocks in at well under an hour. Sam is joined by English Dan for a daytime recording, looking back on a goal-filled weekend of action in the Primera which saw no fewer than three 4-0 scorelines and a 3-3 - this season still hasn't produced any goalless draws. Vélez Sarsfield and River Plate particularly impres...

Sam, Peter and Andrés begin Hand Of Pod 153 with a look at two of the biggest Argentine moves in the European transfer window so far - World Cup star Marcos Rojo's move from Sporting to Manchester United, and World Cup flop Federico Fernández's transfer from Napoli to Swansea City. We ask how much the World Cup really told us about both players' levels. We then look back on the second weekend of P...

On the hundred and fifty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter, Andrés and Joel are joined by Neil Clack, a former resident of Buenos Aires and author of Animals! The Story of England v Argentina, who is visiting BA again after a few years away. We've got a lot to talk about, starting with San Lorenzo's first ever Copa Libertadores win on Wednesday night. We also discuss Gerardo Martino's unve...

In the hundred-and-fifty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Santi, Andrés and Peter have a lot of explaining to do. That's because the new season is upon us, and it behoves us to explain why we're entering a 'transitional championship' and what exactly we're transitioning to (erm, we don't really know at this stage, and the AFA don't seem 100% decided either). We ask which sides did best in the wi...

One story dominates the hundred-and-fiftieth episode of Hand Of Pod, and we make no apologies for it: Sam and Andrés mark a landmark episode with discussion of Julio Grondona's exit from his position as head of the Argentine FA, which came to pass in the manner he frequently said it would; in a coffin. The FIFA Vice-President died on Wednesday afternoon, and we ask what the consequences will be fo...

The hundred-and-forty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Gustavo look back on the semi-final and final of Argentina's World Cup campaign, and on the tournament as a whole from the Argentine perspective. What went wrong, what went right, what could have better and more. We ask whether Lionel Messi had a good or a bad tournament, look at the reasons for his attacking coll...

The hundred-and-forty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod was convened to discuss Argentina's historic qualification for their first World Cup semi-final since 1990, but before we get on to that, we have to begin by bidding farewell to Alfredo Di Stéfano, whose arrival in Madrid in 1953 changed the history of European football. Sam, Peter and Santi are joined by Argentine football historian Esteban Beke...

The hundred-and-forty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod is a very long one, we admit; but not without reason! Sam, Peter, Andrés and German Dan begin by looking at Independiente's return to the Primera following a mildly controversial 2-0 victory over Huracán in a tie-breaker to decide third place on Wednesday afternoon. After that brief starter, we dig into the main course which, of course, is Argen...

The hundred-and-forty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés discuss River Plate's second trophy in a week (and their third in two weeks, if you're particularly easily pleased), Colón's relegation/Atlético de Rafaela's survival, the Argentine national team a little bit, and Independiente's chances of regaining Primera División status on Saturday, among other things. Soon, we'll ha...

The hundred-and-forty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Peter, Gustavo and Andrés joined by a documentary film crew from the USA; the American Fútbol boys have been touring Latin America and filming their way around it in the run-up to the World Cup. Before we get on to their story, though, there's plenty to review; starting with the end of another shocking season for Racing, but...

The hundred-and-forty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod is recorded in Sam's living room, and he, Peter and Andrés - backed by a dog, an antiquated and improperly removed former doorbell and a passing heavy goods train - discuss Argentina's World Cup longlist, including why Carlos Tevez has NOT been left out for Franco Di Santo. We then move on to look at the last weekend of the Torneo Final, which be...

The hundred-and-forty-third episode of Hand Of Pod is upon us, and Sam, Peter and Andrés review another weekend of Torneo Final action as River Plate draw back level with Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata at the top - both have 31 points - with just two rounds of matches left. All Boys have been relegated following a 3-1 defeat to Boca Juniors, and there were tremendously entertaining matches between Ar...