Hand Of Pod

On this week(end)'s HOP, Sam, English Dan and Andrés round up a good week for Boca Juniors and a bad one for River Plate – the latter of whom, all the same, go into this Sunday's superclásico still six points clear at the top of the league. As well as previewing River v Boca we go over last weekend's Liga Profesional matches, give you a roundup of Argentine teams in both continental competitions so far this year and discuss Argentina's squad for this month's Under-20 World Cup, held in ... Argentina!

This week, Sam, Andrés and English Dan look back on last weekend's Liga Profesional action, which saw San Lorenzo get a vital late winner to remain six points behind River Plate. Delays in uploading mean we're a little out of date, because on Friday evening River were held 1–1 away to Atlético Tucumán, meaning the chasing pack have a chance to close the gap a little. Elsewhere, Racing and Boca are poor, Independiente's financial struggles continue and Argentina Under-20 boss Javier Mascherano is hoping Manchester United will let Alejandro Garnacho go to the Under-20 World Cup.

After an enforced break, we're back, and Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi get you caught up with what's happened in the three rounds of Liga Profesional action since we last recorded: River have streaked out in front in the title race, Boca didn't end up appointing Gerardo Martino as manager, no one ended the clásico de Avellaneda in a very good mood and San Lorenzo are as good as they've been for years. Oh, and Argentina will be hosting the Under-20 World Cup next month!

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés review Argentina's first two friendly wins as world champions, 2–0 over Panama and 7–0 over Curaçao, which saw Lionel Messi pass 800 career goals and 100 international goals. We also discuss the managerial situation at Boca Juniors, who've sacked Hugo Ibarra as manager and – if the media can be believed – look set to replace him with Gerardo Martino.

On this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony have a HOP first to review: a win for Gimnasia over Estudiantes in the clásico platense, something that last happened a couple of months before Sam moved to Argentina. There were two hilarious penalties awarded in Independiente v Colón, a win for Instituto in the Bombonera and one for River Plate in Junín that takes them top of the table. And we preview the international break, as Argentina play their first matches as world champions, hosting Panama on Thursday and Curaçao on Tuesday.

Ignore Sam's confused numbering at the start: this is episode 454, not 444. He's joined by English Dan and Andrés to review a league weekend with an awful lot of 1–1 draws and only four red cards, in which San Lorenzo finally decided to cut loose and get a big win. Tickets for Argentina v Panama went on sale the day we recorded this and had (predictably) already sold out, and we discuss the format for the 2026 World Cup and the CONMEBOL qualifying process.

What a difference two weeks makes! Since we last recorded Lanús have gone from played four, won four to played six, won four, lost two. Sam and Dan review two weeks that have resulted in a mere two points separating the top seven teams.

In this week's Hand Of Pod (recorded on Wednesday, but Sam's only just getting the time to upload it on Friday night), Sam and Andrés discuss a fourth round of action in the Liga Profesional which saw more red cards to add to the already high tally (and, since we recorded, round five has kicked off with one in the second match of the weekend). Lanús continue to lead the way with a perfect record, but the other relegation strugglers aren't in such good form.

On this week's episode Sam and English Dan look back on a third consecutive win for early table-toppers Lanús, a drab defeat for Boca in Córdoba and an entertaining – and controversial – first match for River in the newly expanded Estadio Monumental, which is now the largest stadium in South America.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on the second round of action in the Liga Profesional, which saw a remarkable coincidence: Pablo Vegetti, who was the first person to score against Marcelo Gallardo's River Plate back in 2014, became the first person to score against Martín Demichelis's River Plate, as Belgrano beat River 2–1 in Córdoba. Lanús are among the early leaders as their attempt to escape relegation gets off to a promising start, and the match we told you not to watch on episode 449 saw one goal that was disallowed, eight that were allowed and a red card. Just in case you were starting to think we sound like people who know what we're talking about after 450 episodes ...

This week, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on the first weekend of action in the 2023 Liga Profesional season and discuss Enzo Fernández's big-money transfer to Chelsea (including what it means for River Plate's finances). When we started, it didn't feel like there'd be much to say, but we managed somehow ...

It's a new year on Hand Of Pod, and Sam, English Dan and Andrés are here to preview the 2023 domestic season for you, as we come down from the high of Argentina's World Cup win last month. Boca Juniors, Racing and River Plate have probably had the best transfer windows, but who else should we look out for? And what's the relegation struggle going to look like this year?

This is it: the episode we've been building up to for twelve years. In the four hundred and forty-seventh HOP, Sam, English Dan, Santi, Julián and Chris take in, and try to dissect, the fact that Lionel Messi's Argentina have finally won the World Cup. This is our longest episode ever by a distance, and we make no apologies for that. Enjoy whichever holidays you're celebrating (if you are), and we'll see you in the new year.

In a bumper episode this week, Sam, English Dan, Santi, Andrés and Remi (remember Remi?!) look back on Argentina's false start but eventually encouraging qualification from Group C at the 2022 World Cup, and we have a bit of a chat with Remi about the Netherlands, who Argentina MIGHT meet in the quarter-final.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés run the rule over Argentina's World Cup squad and their chances. We've sprinkled a little bit of club football talk in as well, but mostly it's a bumper chat about Argentina and just how little Sam knows about any of the other teams involved.

In the final CLUB football HOP of 2022, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on two weeks that have seen Boca Juniors clinch the league title after a deciding day on which neither of the title contenders managed to win and, far more historically, Patronato de la Juventud Católica become the first non-directly affiliated club in Argentine football history to win a top-level national trophy by beating Talleres in the Copa Argentina final, meaning they'll play in the 2023 Copa Libertadores from the second division.

This week Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés gather to discuss three rounds of Liga Profesional action and preview Sunday's two title-deciding Big Five clásicos – will Boca Juniors lift the trophy as expected, or can Independiente get a result in the Bombonera which could put Racing's title hopes in their own hands as they host River Plate? We also look at the Independiente presidential elections of a couple of weeks ago with Santi's wisdom, and discuss the news that Marcelo Gallardo is stepping down as River manager.

Atlético Tucumán remain top of the league by the skin of their teeth: this week Sam and Dan review two rounds of matches in which the leaders lost one and won one, but currently sit atop the table due to Gimnasia v Boca, which kicked off just after we finished recording, having to be called off due to heavy-handed policing (seemingly after too many tickets were sold). We look back on bucketloads of goals in Racing's matches and give an explanation of the relegation system for anyone who's joined us in the last couple of years (i.e. since it was last used).

This week Sam and English Dan look back on Atlético Tucumán once again rising to the challenge of maintaining their league leadership, wonder which players have made a case for inclusion in Lionel Scaloni's World Cup squad during Argentina's 3–0 wins over Honduras and Jamaica, and review the Copa Argentina quarter-finals, which we didn't want to turn into just talking about River and Boca's matches ... but which did anyway because those two were really good and the other two frankly weren't.

This week, Sam and Andrés are joined by English Dan, who's back from holiday. We fill him in on what he's missed – including several changes of leadership in the league, even though Atlético Tucumán currently lead the title race just as they did when he left. We also give a preview of Argentina's chances in their friendlies in the United States against Honduras and Jamaica (we're sticking our necks out and predicting two victories).