Hand Of Pod

It's a short episode this week, with Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Chris reviewing the Copa Libertadores exits of River Plate and Argentinos Juniors and the qualifications of Boca Juniors and Racing. The latter two will meet each other in the quarter-finals, which start next week.

We've got plenty to get through this week: Sam, English Dan and Andrés review the 2023 Liga Profesional campaign and decide on the best players who weren't playing for River, look at the biggest transfer stories of the winter so far including Edinson Cavani finally signing for Boca and River bringing Manuel Lanzini home, lament Argentina's frustration at the Women's World Cup and marvel at the continuing tactical bravery of North American club sides in their stalwart refusal to bother even trying to mark the best attacker of all time when he gets near the box.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a weekend that saw plenty of goals in the Liga Profesional, including a first domestic home defeat of the year for San Lorenzo and a 3–3 draw in Rosario. We also review Argentina's agonising 1–0 defeat to Italy in their opening match of the Women's World Cup (followed up with a 2–2 draw against South Africa shortly after we recorded this episode) and Lionel Messi's first couple of appearances for Inter Miami (or what we've seen of them, which isn't much).

River Plate have been crowned champions of Argentina again, and this week Sam, Andrés and English Dan look at the key players in their campaign and reflect on a good start to life as a first-team manager for Martín Demichelis (hours before Talleres put River out of the Copa Argentina). We also look forward to the Women's World Cup kicking off and discuss the financial sustainability (or otherwise) of Argentine football clubs.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés can't quite give you the confirmation that River Plate have won the title, but Martín Demichelis's men are now nine points clear with nine to play for, so it doesn't seem like it'll be much longer. We also discuss Lionel Messi's first day at Inter Miami, the Copa Sudamericana playoffs beginning and more.

(This week's episode is a little delayed being uploaded, but while River Plate have played since we recorded, they're still not champions yet: they drew with San Lorenzo on Saturday, meaning they'll only take the title if Talleres lose on Monday.) In this episode Sam, Andrés and Dan discuss them reaching the brink of the title, Racing continuing to disappoint (and bidding farewell to Paolo Guerrero) and much more.

This week's HOP is a little different from normal, because Sam and Tony met up on Thursday to interview Club León and Argentina midfielder Sophia Braun ahead of the Women's World Cup. After that, on Friday, Sam went to Dan's place, and the two of them reviewed last week's action in the league (the main results since then before this pod went online were that River lost and Talleres were held to a draw on Saturday, cutting River's lead to 9 points) and the closing matches of the group stages in the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look at a week of Liga Profesional action which saw River Plate maintain the gap at the top even as Talleres leapfrogged San Lorenzo into second. Elsewhere, Uruguay claimed the Under-20 World Cup, beating Italy in the final in La Plata, and Lionel Messi scored his 103rd international goal – and the earliest goal of his career – and Alejandro Garnacho made his international debut as Argentina beat Australia 2–0 in a friendly in Beijing.

This week Sam and English Dan round up last week's league action (including tragic news from the Monumental) and the midweek Libertadores and Sudamericana results, and have a chat about Lionel Messi's move to Inter Miami. Will it extend his international career? When will he make his debut? And will we down here actually be able to watch any of his matches? All these questions and more are answered. Or at least speculated over.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a weekend that saw River Plate held to a draw that still allowed them to extend their lead at the top of the league thanks to a shock defeat for San Lorenzo earlier in the round. Boca Juniors actually played well for once, Argentina (and England) are out of the Under-20 World Cup ... but most importantly of all, José Sand broke his own record as the oldest player to score in Argentina's top flight through a stoppage time penalty for Lanús against Independiente at the age of 42 years, 10 months and 10 days.