Hand Of Pod

Hand Of Pod returns as the Argentine Primera gears up to enter the second half of 2015. Sam and Andrés are here to review Argentina's Copa América campaign, which saw a second major final in a year, but a second disappointment at the last hurdle. Where do the national team go from here, which players matched up to expectations, who fell short and which younger stars should perhaps be given a chance to shake things up in the coming months? As well as this we look at Carlos Tevez's return to Boca Juniors and Javier Saviola's and Lucho González's to River Plate, consider the other main moves in the transfer market, and answer a few questions from our wonderful listeners, as ever.

The hundred and eighty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and English Dan gather for an uncharacteristically early recording session, defying a national strike to see to it that you get your weekly dose of nonsense. We begin with a look at the last weekend of action in the Argentine Primera, in which San Lorenzo's lead at the top was cut by Boca Juniors with a thumping 4-0 win at home to Newell's Old Boys, but River Plate threw away the chance to stay level with Boca by only drawing away to Olimpo. Dan's presence mean Racing are up for discussion again, but the main focus is of course the Copa América, which gets underway on Thursday evening when hosts Chile take on Ecuador. We give you the lowdown on (in our opinion) the main contenders - using Sam's newly-patented 'how many players in their mid-twenties do each squad have?' metric (eat your heart out, Nate Silver!), and of course go particularly big on Lionel Messi & co., who are looking to finally claim Argentina's first senior trophy since the 1993 Copa.

In the hundred and eighty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Gustavo meet to discuss the penultimate weekend of Primera División action before the league breaks for the Copa América. San Lorenzo are out on their own at the top due to a win over Quilmes combined with Boca Juniors losing for a second successive week, this time away to Vélez Sarsfield. River Plate got a slightly controversial win over Rosario Central, prompting us to ask whether Ramiro Funes Mori is the Argentine league's answer to John Terry (because he seems to get away with a penalty decision every game, not all the... other stuff); we also look back on River's Copa Libertadores progression last week, and Racing's exit to Guaraní, both of which happened after episode 186 was recorded. As Gustavo is here, there's a roundup of lower division action as well, focussing mainly on the Nacional B so far this year.

In the hundred and eighty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés to discuss another lively week. There's talk about the reaction in Argentina to this week's FIFA arrests in Zurich, and how they affect Argentina (oh, how we wish Julio Grondona had lived long enough to have been bundled into the back of one of those electric cars), though we're sceptical about how much will change. We then cover last weekend's league action, during which Aldosivi dismantled Boca Juniors' unbeaten league record and San Lorenzo beat Sarmiento to move joint top - River Plate's chance to join them didn't come, as their game away to Tigre was the only Primera game of the weekend to be delayed by the AFA decision to cancel the remainder of the weekend's matches out of respect for Cristian Gómez, the Paraná defender who died of a heart attack during his side's game against Boca Unidos on Sunday afternoon. We were deeply pessimistic about River's chances of Copa Libertadores progression just after this episode was recorded, but as it happened we should have been more cheery - River got a 3-0 second leg win to qualify for the semi-final.

The hundred and eighty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Peter talking about the only thing anyone in Argentine football has been discussing in the last few days - the pepper spray-and-acid attack by the Boca Juniors barra brava on River Plate's players which saw the second half of the Copa Libertadores quarter-final superclásico called off, and Boca disqualified from this year's competition. The political ramifications at the club and for Argentine Security Secretary Sergio Berni (who claimed the security operation had been a roaring success), Boca's protestations and appeals, whether CONMEBOL were too lenient with their punishment and more are all on the table. The tragic death of Emanuel Ortega which caused the calling-off of last weekend's league fixtures means Mystic Sam remains almost unchanged in his predictions this time, though there has been one adjustment compared to last week's readings; he now thinks Estudiantes can win away to Atlético de Rafaela.

In the hundred and eighty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter and Andrés look back on a goal-laden weekend of Primera División action, and on last week's Copa Libertadores last sixteen first leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors. We consider what River's 1-0 win means for Thursday night's return leg, and domestically we discuss Crucero del Norte's uselessness, Belgrano's and Rosario Central's good campaigns, and Independiente's chances of losing three players to various European clubs, as well as Federico Mancuello's hilarious red card on Sunday night against Boca, and why he won't be suspended for this Sunday's clásico away to Racing, which we also preview. Listen before Thursday's Libertadores second leg between Boca and River for the full experience, but there's plenty more in store if you don't get here until afterwards!

In the hundred and eighty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés are joined by Mariano, returning to the pod after a long absence, and new boy Federico, the second of our newly-acquired tame Boca Juniors fans. We look back on Boca's 2-0 win over River Plate on Sunday in the league, and review the rest of the weekend's action as well - including some thoughts from Mariano on San Lorenzo's decline and Copa Libertadores exit. We then preview this Thursday's clash between River and Boca at the Monumental in part two of the Superclásico Trilogy, in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores last sixteen tie. Will Sunday's Boca win play a role in either manager's thinking? Will we see unchanged teams? Which side has more pressure on them, and is a Libertadores last sixteen tie more or less important than a Copa Sudamericana semi-final? All these questions and more are addressed. And this week it's only an hour and a bit long, so early birds have plenty of time to listen before the match!

In the hundred and eight-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Joel are joined by new boy - and Boca Juniors fan - Julian in an exciting week in Buenos Aires, as we gear up to watch three clashes between River Plate and Boca Juniors in just eleven days; two in the Copa Libertadores last 16, and first of all one in the league this Sunday. We discuss how both sides have come to be sitting joint first after ten matches, how recent superclásicos have gone and what we expect in the upcoming clashes - as well as why the choice of referees, especially for Sunday's encounter, has caused such a big fuss. Prior to that, we have a round-up of the other recent action in Argentina, including a Copa Argentina catch-up and a look at the other sides in the Copa Libertadores knockout stages, because apparently there are some.

In the hundred and eighty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Peter look back on a weekend of action that left River Plate and Boca Juniors joint top of the table as they prepare to head into their clash at La Bombonera on the 3rd May (there are no matches this weekend). The two will also clash twice after that in the last 16 of the Copa Libertadores, but we'll do a full preview of those matches next week; this time round we look at Racing and Independiente, who both drew their matches 0-0 last weekend, and consider some of the league's less heralded heroes so far. This week's history bit has Dan telling us about the time Alfredo Di Stéfano was kidnapped by a Venezuelan group of political protesters.

The hundred and eightieth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés joined by new boy Remi, who brings a continental European air of sophistication (and a typically Dutch manner of speaking against received wisdom) to the podcast. We discuss the results over the weekend which led to Boca Juniors, River Plate, San Lorenzo and Rosario Central to all be tied on 21 points at the top, look at an emotional clásico del Sur in which Lanús beat Banfield 2-1, and explain how River Plate were up against it in the Copa Libertadores as we recorded (we returned afterwards to let you know how that turned out). Remi also tells us about his visit to Temperley on Friday, where he watched the hosts beat Colón 2-1. This week's history section is a tribute to Uruguayan journalist, historian and football writer Eduardo Galeano, who died on Monday.