Hand Of Pod

It's not often HOP gets to talk about genuinely the biggest story in world sport of the last week. In HOP316, Sam, Andrés and podcast newcomer Chris take you through the timeline, fallout, mistakes and conspiracy theories surrounding the postponement of the Copa Libertadores final second leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors. We also talk a bit about the Argentine Superliga, to lighten the mood...

Well, this is quite a way to return from our month-and-a-half-long hiatus. On Saturday, River Plate will host Boca Juniors in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final; the biggest match in the history of Argentine – and probably South American – club football history. In episode 315 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan look back on the semis and the first leg of the final, before previewing th...

The three hundred and fourteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Tony to discuss a weekend on which there was less football than normal, due to a rainstorm which resulted in only one match being played on Saturday. Racing won that game to extend their Superliga lead (pending Atlético Tucumán's game in hand), while Boca returned to winning ways and River's reserves tonked Lanús...

In episode three hundred and thirteen of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and English Dan to discuss River Plate's 2-0 win over Boca Juniors in Sunday's superclásico, as well as yet another win for Racing, who remain top of the league, and more success for Aldosivi, who are enjoying a fine start to life back in the top flight.

The three hundred and twelfth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony come together for a bumper episode, discussing the role of the VAR and all the others ins and outs of the first legs of the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals (the three involving Argentine clubs, anyway), and previewing Sunday's titanic clash in the Bombonera between Boca Juniors and River Plate.

In the three hundred and eleventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés give a quick roundup of the Copa Argentina, before taking a deep dive into the lukewarm pool of the national team, whose two clean sheets against Guatemala and Colombia – with two different goalkeepers! – were arguably the brightest thing about their first two games under caretaker manager Lionel Scaloni.

The three hundred and tenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés meet to discuss the action from the fourth round of Superliga 2018–19 action, which saw Racing leapfrog Rosario Central into the top spot by beating their visitors 2-0 in Avellaneda. River Plate and San Lorenzo drew yet again (with each other), Boca Juniors got back to winning ways, and Tigre once again scored two goals, but ma...

The three hundred and ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discussing a chaotic week of Copa Libertadores administration which saw much-publicised disciplinary decisions regarding River Plate's Bruno Zuculini and Santos' Carlos Sánchez in their ties against Racing and Independiente, respectively. As well as this, we've a roundup of the third round of Superliga action, which saw Rosario...

The three hundred and eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss a weekend of Superliga action in which River Plate flattered to deceive, Boca Juniors lost and thus ended a long run of being top or joint top, and Edgardo Bauza's Rosario Central got another 1-0 win thanks to a headed goal.

The three hundred and seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a Superliga opening round that was notable for three teams only drawing after going 2-0 up, and not an awful lot else apart from Huracán's atrocious pitch. There's some Copa Libertadores action to review as well, and we also tackle some of the likely names in Lionel Scaloni's Argentina squad, which w...

In the three hundred and sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés preview the 2018–19 Superliga season, which kicks off on Friday evening, and also have a look at the Copa Libertadores round of sixteen, which began on Tuesday evening with Estudiantes' surprise win over defending champions Grêmio.

The three hundred and fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés all excited because there are fewer than ten days remaining until the start of the 2018–19 Superliga season, and we've got some kickoff times to tell you about. We discuss which teams still have some work to do in the transfer market (including a bit of a fuss about whether Boca Juniors should be allowed to sign the left back t...

The three hundred and fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés catching up with what's been going on in the Copa Argentina, which has seen a number of shocks this year but notably not in Independiente's or River Plate's matches since we last recorded – those two scored fifteen goals between them in seeing off Central Ballester and Central Norte respectively. There's also a look at the rou...

The three hundred and third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés to discuss where the Argentine national team go next after parting ways with Jorge Sampaoli, and also to look forward to the upcoming Superliga season and go over the main transfer business of the window so far.

The inevitable has happened: Argentina are out of the 2018 World Cup after a 4-3 defeat to France in the second round. In the three hundred and second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and English Dan to pick over the bones of the defeat, and of the chaotic campaign that led to it. Listeners' questions cover what the next steps should be, who might come into the team in the next few...

For the three hundred and first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés are celebrating after Argentina's last-gasp 2-1 win over Nigeria saw them through Group D of the 2018 World Cup in second place behind Croatia, and into a second round tie against France. Were the players really picking the team? Was Javier Mascherano awful or amazing? Is Marcos Rojo the greatest footballer of all time? All the...

The three hundredth episode of Hand Of Pod is a less celebratory affair than we'd hoped for such a landmark, with Sam and English Dan picking over the bones of Argentina's second half catastrophe against Croatia, which leaves them needing to beat Nigeria – possibly comfortably – on Tuesday if they're going to advance. We ask what needs to change, when these problems first took root. Thanks to all...

The two hundred and ninety-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan and Andrés to look back on a faltering start to the World Cup group stage for Argentina, who drew 1-1 with Iceland on Saturday. What changes is Jorge Sampaoli making? What changes should he make? And how much scope for improvement is there, really? Perhaps foolishly, we're remaining optimistic about the Croatia...

In the two hundred and ninety-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés are joined by Helgi, one of (as far as he knows) three Icelanders currently living in Buenos Aires. We preview Argentina's World Cup opener on Saturday with a look at what appears to be Jorge Sampaoli's all-but-confirmed starting XI, as well as asking Helgi how it feels to be experiencing his first World Cup with his own t...

In the two hundred and ninety-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés take you through the last week in Argentina's World Cup preparations, which has included the cancellation of Saturday's planned friendly away to Israel after the Argentine FA realised it wasn't an idea absolutely everyone was completely delighted with. Elsewhere, the B Nacional playoff final ended with San Martín de Tucum...

In the two hundred and ninety-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss Argentina's pre-World Cup friendly victory over Haiti in the Bombonera. Did we learn anything, or merely have various things confirmed which we already knew? Should Cristian Pavón start ahead of Ángel Di María? Who is the first choice goalkeeper? And is there really any point in playing friendlies against sides who...

The two hundred and ninety-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Julián to discuss Argentina's 23-man World Cup squad, and the chaos introduced to it by Tuesday's news that first-choice goalkeeper Sergio Romero would miss the tournament with injury. Should Willy Caballero or Franco Armani be Romero's replacement? In the outfield positions, are there any players missing who sho...

The two hundred and ninety-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan and Andrés to discuss the final weekend of Superliga 2017–18 action, in which there were a few high-scoring games, a few surprising results (including Independiente, Talleres and Racing falling over one another in their rush to not qualify for the Copa Libertadores)and a tight finish all round for the Copa plac...

It was fitting, given the way the season has gone, that Boca Juniors sealed their second consecutive league title with a draw in which they almost seemed to be trying to let the point slip away from them at times. In the two hundred and ninety-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and Mariano to discuss Boca's title, why none of the chasing pack (not least San Lorenzo) had the wher...

In the two hundred and ninety-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss the silliness of the conspiracy theories surrounding why Gimnasia v Boca Juniors was called off on Sunday (some fans seem to think Daniel Angelici controls the weather), and we look back at a Superliga weekend which saw Godoy Cruz keep up their slim title hopes with a clásico victory, and a five goal thriller (of s...