Hand Of Pod

In the first Hand Of Pod of 2020, Sam, English Dan, Tony and Andrés preview this weekend's return to Superliga action as the summer break comes to a close. Why are River Plate unhappy with kit suppliers adidas? Will Daniele De Rossi ever truly retire? How much longer will the Superliga be around for? All these questions and more are considered this week.

In the final episode of 2019, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony look back on the last few games of the year, which tidied up a couple of the Superliga matches postponed from earlier rounds, and decided a couple of trophies of varying importance.

In the penultimate HOP of 2019, Sam, English Dan, Tony and Andrés review a round of Superliga action – the last before the summer break – in which most of the title hopefuls dropped points, not for the first time.

Hand Of Pod is back after Sam's holiday, and in this week's episode, English Dan, Andrés and Tony fill him in on what's been happening while he was away, including a review of River Plate's late collapse in the Copa Libertadores final, why Diego Maradona resigned and then unresigned as Gimnasia manager, and the main talking points ahead of Boca Juniors' presidential election on Sunday.

This Saturday, the first ever single-match final of South America's biggest club competition will be played, as holders River Plate take on Brazilian giants Flamengo in Lima's Estadio Monumental. In this week's Hand Of Pod – recorded last Thursday, because Sam is away on holiday – Sam and Andrés take you through both sides' route to the final, and consider what might happen on Saturday afternoon.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend of Superliga action which saw all of the top four drop points (Boca Juniors were the only ones to even draw), ensuring a tight title race has got even tighter due to wins for a few of the chasing pack. We also consider the Copa Argentina semi-finals, one of which was played during and one of which was played after this recording (the final will pit Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero against River Plate), and look forward to Friday's friendly between Argentina and Brazil, which is being played as I upload this episode.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Tony are again joined by special guests Phil and Jamie to discuss a weekend in which victories for River Plate, Boca Juniors and Lanús combined with a draw for Argentinos Juniors to leave four teams separated by just a point at the top of the table. As well as this, Colón take on Independiente Del Valle in the Copa Sudamericana final on Saturday, and on that same day Estudiantes open their new stadium – although with a party rather than a match, because they host Talleres in the municipal stadium on Friday night.

This week in the Hand Of Pod studio, Sam, English Dan and Andrés are joined by two very special guests: Phil Carney, who runs the Lanús in English Twitter account, and Jamie Ralph, who runs the Newell's in English account, are both visiting Argentina for a couple of weeks, and came in to say hello. With them, we review a midweek round of Superliga action which saw Argentinos Juniors go clear at the top of the table, and River Plate go third – with Lanús, whose win over Boca Juniors was watched by Phil, and helped both of those clubs to climb the table, sitting between them. Jamie's first trip to the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa didn't go quite as well: Newell's were tonked by Diego Maradona's Gimnasia, who might be allowing themselves to dream of survival after all ...

On this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on the Copa Libertadores semi-final second legs, reviewing River Plate's progression in spite of defeat against Boca Juniors and Flamengo's crushing win over Grêmio. They ask whether the final will be as one sided as this week's two matches appear to suggest. And Mystic Sam predicts not one but two rounds of the Superliga.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés review Argentina's 6-1 tonking of Ecuador in Elche, and cast their eye over the players who might have won themselves consideration by Lionel Scaloni when more meaningful fixtures come around. We also take a look at the latest Primera Femenina results, and preview next week's Copa Libertadores semi-final second leg between Boca Juniors and River Plate.