Hand Of Pod

This week Sam and Santi look back on three weeks of action (due to Sam first being on holiday and then being very busy) during which the title race seems to have swung decisively in River Plate's favour. We wax lyrical about Julián Álvarez (Independiente fan Santi even compares him to a young Sergio Agüero) and answer some listeners' questions. We also preview Friday and Tuesday's World Cup qualifying double header, in which Argentina have their two biggest clásicos: first they travel across the Río de la Plata to face Uruguay, then they head to San Juan, where they'll host Brazil.

Allow us one indulgent episode title about ourselves rather than the football we're covering, because this week's episode was the first since March 2020 to be recorded with all of us in the same living room. Sam, English Dan and Andrés get reacquainted with one another and discuss Argentina's World Cup qualifying draw with Paraguay and wins over Uruguay and Peru before going over the last couple of rounds of action in the Liga Profesional.

This week's Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Santi and Andrés review a couple of rounds of league action, including River Plate's 2–1 win over Boca Juniors in Sunday's superclásico, which sent River top of the table. We also preview the upcoming World Cup qualifying triple header, in which (as long as no health authorities invade the pitch this time) Argentina will take on Paraguay in Asunción and Uruguay and Peru in Buenos Aires.

This week, Sam and English Dan catch up with what's been going on in the three weeks since we last recorded. The main focus is on trying to unpick exactly what went on in São Paulo a couple of weeks back when the Brazil v Argentina World Cup qualifier was called off – and what do we think will happen next? We also give you a quick overview of the other World Cup qualifying matches (including yet another record for Lionel Messi) and give you a Liga Profesional update.

On this week's HOP Sam, English Dan and Santi preview the upcoming World Cup qualifying triple-header, and have a rant at the (partially successful) attempt by English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese clubs to distort the World Cup qualifying process.

In this week's HOP, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi discuss a week which has seen Argentina's last two representatives – River Plate and Rosario Central – dumped out of the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana, and look back on last weekend's Liga Profesional action.

In this week's HOP Sam, English Dan and Santi catch up on what's been going on in the two weeks since we were last able to record. It's been an OK couple of weeks for Independiente (who at least one their clásico), an underwhelming one for Boca Juniors (even though they won their clásico ... well, a shootout), a poor one for River Plate and a manager-sacking one for Racing. Much happier, though, are league leaders Colón and Lanús striker José Sand, who just can't stop scoring goals. Oh and apparently Lionel Messi moved clubs? We're surprised no one's really been talking about it.

In this week's HOP, Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Santi and Tony look back on the first three rounds of action in the 2021 Liga Profesional de Fútbol, as well as on both legs of the last sixteen ties in the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana, which have left just River Plate (in the Libertadores) and Rosario Central (in the Sudamericana) flying the flag for Argentine football in the quarters.

We can finally shout it! After a 28-year wait Argentina ended their trophy drought on Saturday with a 1–0 win over Brazil in the final of the Copa América, and Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés are here to look back on a final – and a tournament – that brings hope for the future and proves many critics (including us!) wrong about some players, but does demonstrate that the universe can have a hell of a sense of humour sometimes. We also preview the new league season, which gets underway on Friday night.

After Argentina made their way past Ecuador and Colombia to reach a third Copa América final in four tournaments, Sam, English Dan and Santi preview Saturday's final against host nation Brazil, who've never failed to win a Copa on home soil.