Hand Of Pod

The hundred and seventy-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Peter, Andrés and Jon Gilbert to discuss the second weekend of Argentina's monster new Primera. River Plate were held in a lively 2-2 draw with Quilmes, Boca Juniors made it two league wins out of two and champions Racing have just one point from their first two matches, but there's a long way to go yet. We also discuss the Libertadores games that have taken place since we last recorded (since we recorded this episode, Boca Juniors beat Montevideo Wanderers 2-1 on Thursday night), and have a brief conversation about the Copa Argentina.

The 2015 Monster Championship has begun, and in the hundred and seventy-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Santi and Peter convene to look back on the first weekend of action. Champions Racing got off to a losing start, Independiente edged a five-goal thriller, whilst things were rather more pedestrian for River Plate, Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo, who all recorded routine wins. The first managerial casualty of the season has, faintly ridiculously, already occurred, with Reinaldo Merlo sacked by Colón. We also look at the Copa Libertadores and tell you exactly who will qualify from each group.

Hand Of Pod returns from the summer break with our first episode of 2015. Sam, Andrés, Peter and Gustavo preview Argentina's controversial new 30-team top flight in this episode. Which teams have done best and worst in the transfer market, who's already had some form of competitive action to get warmed up for the task ahead, and should Argentine sides be expected to make waves in this year's Copa Libertadores? All these questions are answered, along with some more, probably. We are pleased to announce a new partnership with the Argentina Independent starting in this episode - they pay for our fernet, we tell you that argentinaindependent.com is an excellent English-language source of news from Argentina and across Latin America. Check it out.

The hundred and seventieth episode of Hand Of Pod is our last of 2014, and we leave on an unexpected note: Racing Club managed not to racinguear on Sunday, and are the new champions of Argentina. Sam and Andrés, River Plate fans, are for once outnumbered by Racing fans; English Dan, Ilan and the prodigal son of Hand Of Pod, Seba García. We discuss Racing's fine end-of-championship form to lift the trophy, and where the side go from here. We also have a special appearance from Marrakesh by San Lorenzo fan Mariano, who's travelled to watch his team at the Club World Cup; what did he make of the semi-final extra time win over Auckland City, and what does he expect for Saturday's final against Real Madrid? You'll have to listen to find out. The 2015 Primera fixture list has already been released, too, and we discuss that and look back on a memorable 2014 for Argentine football, which has seen Argentine clubs win both South American club cups, a highly entertaining championship all round during the second half of the year, and the small matter of the national side reaching the World Cup final. Good luck to San Lorenzo on Saturday, and may 2015 be every bit as memorable. Merry Christmas (or happy celebration of your choice) to our listeners, and we'll be back in the new year!

The hundred and sixty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is going online rather late this week, mostly because Sam's computer was out of order for a while, delaying the editing process. In it, Sam and Andrés discuss River Plate's long-awaited return to international glory, after they claimed their first international trophy in seventeen years by winning the Copa Sudamericana (the continent's second most important competition) on Wednesday night. What should River aim at next year, and would this highly successful 2014 have been possible had the club not been relegated in 2011, among other considerations? We then move our focus to preview Sunday's two league title deciders, as leaders Racing host Godoy Cruz and second-placed River (them again) visit Quilmes. Is there any chance at all that Racing will do a Racing and cock it up? Could River complete an unlikely double? Sunday's matches both kick off at 8:30pm Argentine time (11:30pm Greenwich Mean Time), and we'll be back late next week to fill you in on what happens.

The hundred and sixty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Peter recording in Sam's new living room, with the traffic noise of Avenida Santa Fe drifting in through the (closed) windows. There's plenty to discuss, because it's been a week since River Plate saw off Boca Juniors 1-0 in an epic Copa Sudamericana semi-final clash, and just a day (at the time of recording) since they secured a 1-1 draw in Medellín against Atlético Nacional to give themselves a decent chance in their home leg of the final, next Wednesday. We also look back on the three most important games of last weekend, which saw Lanús drop out of the title race as Racing stayed top with a 3-0 win away to Rosario Central, and River clung to their coat-tails to take the title race to a postponed last weekend with a thrilling 3-2 win over Banfield, which included Fernando Cavenaghi's 100th and 101st goals for the club. All this, and much more...

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 weekend, River took a gamble with their team selection against Racing in the league, and it backfired - Racing snatched a 1-0 win to go top of the table with two games remaining. There were surprising wins away from home for Godoy Cruz and Arsenal de Sarandí, some promotions to next year's top flight have been clinched, and there was a barra brava turf battle in the cafeteria of River's stadium. We also give you the clearest idea we possibly can of what the 2015 Primera División is going to look like, because that seems to have been confirmed now (though further developments would surprise none of us).

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, we move on to a quick review of last weekend's top flight action, which saw River Plate and Lanús both drop points, allowing Racing and Independiente to gain ground. We then consider the coming week, with the Copa Argentina semi-finals to be played shortly after this episode goes online on Wednesday, followed on Thursday by the first leg of an epic Copa Sudamericana semi-final between Boca Juniors and River - sandwiched between which, league leaders River also visit second-placed Racing. These are going to be days which will define River's campaign, so enjoy this episode while it's relevant!

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 controversial refereeing performance, a tightening title race as River Plate's club record unbeaten run finally came to an end, the Argentine FA making more changes to the structure of the next few championships, football-related deaths in depressing quantities, and a lot more besides. We also asked you, the listeners, to tweet and email us some of your favourite Argentine football memories from the last four years. We hope you've enjoyed the ride so far, as we embark on our fifth year...

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, and Sam humours him. We cast our eye over some of the rest of the league as usual, before looking forward to the second legs of the Copa Sudamericana quarter-finals involving Argentine sides; Boca Juniors' trip to Asunción to take on Cerro Porteño was kicking off shortly as this episode was uploaded, whilst River Plate v Estudiantes de La Plata gets underway in a few hours. This week's episode is a short one - ideal for sharing with your friends if they've not listened before!