Hand Of Pod

Episode 80 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Joel welcome guest Ed Malyon to Buenos Aires, and in a bumper episode we go through last weekend's Torneo Inicial action - which included a woeful loss for Boca Juniors, a very impressive win for leaders Newell's Old Boys and a thumping 5-0 victory for River Plate against Godoy Cruz. We also answer listeners' questions on the sons of ex players coming through club youth ranks and more, and cast our eyes over Argentina's upcoming World Cup Qualifiers - at home to Uruguay on Friday and away to Chile on Tuesday. Enjoy.

The seventy-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan and Joel meet to discuss a goal-filled weekend. There were thirty-five goals in ten matches, and Joel drew the short straw and managed to pick what turned out to be the only goalless draw of the round to attend. We wonder how anyone could possibly have doubted Matías Almeyda's position at River Plate (ahem), consider yet more ridiculous pressure being heaped on Julio César Falcioni at Boca Juniors, and cast our expert eyes over Wednesday night's Argentina v Brazil 'local national team' friendly, which will kick off just under a couple of hours after this episode was uploaded. Enjoy.

In the seventy-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Joel return to discuss last weekend's Torneo Inicial action, and the fallout. Racing beat River Plate in the derby, and Matías Almeyda's job security - as well as the bit of a non-story about quotes from his autobiography finally reaching Europe - are up for discussion. We also look at Newell's Old Boys' excellent form as they top the table, ask when Independiente, Tigre and Unión will finally manage to win a match, and discuss a second straight 4-0 home win for San Martín de San Juan. All this, and much more.

In the seventy-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Joel begin life without Australian Dan with another bumper episode, during which we look at the increasing impatience towards River Plate and Racing managers Matías Almeyda and Luís Zubeldía ahead of the clásico between the two clubs this weekend. We also recount last Friday's hilarious press conference at La Bombonera in which Juan Román Riquelme led everyone a merry dance, and look back at last weekend's results, as well as considering the importance of the Superclásico de Las Américas, a friendly double-header between the domestic national sides of Argentina and Brazil (Brazil won the first leg 2-1 shortly after we recorded this episode). And as of this week, Mystic Dan is replaced by Mystic Sam. Enjoy.

The seventy-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod is a sad affair, being as it is Australian Dan's final appearance as a full HOP-er. As well as discussing this momentous event, we also find time for less important things, such as Argentina's latest World Cup qualifying double-header and last weekend's league action, which saw none of the top NINE win their matches, and in particular a brilliant 3-3 draw between River Plate and Newell's Old Boys. We also, of course, have the last ever Mystic Dan. Enjoy.

The seventy-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is a bumper one ahead of Friday evening's World Cup qualifier in Córdoba between Argentina and Paraguay. Gearing up for that match, we've got Asunción resident Ralph Hannah on to tell us what's been going on with the Paraguayan national team, and also take a look at the Argentine side and their chances. There's a full weekend of league games in Argentina as well, and we look back on the last round which included a draw for River Plate seemingly in spite of their manager, a hat-trick from a potential Next Big Thing at Racing, an enormous number of red cards, and no shortage of goals. Enjoy.

In the seventy-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Joel and Dan are joined by Mariano, our tamed San Lorenzo fan, once again as we dissect an underwhelming weekend of Primera División action marked mainly by River Plate's somewhat tiresome reaction to their own incompetence in last weekend's 0-0 draw against San Lorenzo. We also look at a tax scandal involving player transfers (not only involving River, in case that headline confused you), consider Independiente's ongoing turmoil, and run the rule over the latest national team squad, which includes Hernán Barcos, a player you could be forgiven for not having heard of if you don't live in South America.

The seventy-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan and Dan welcome tamed San Lorenzo fan Mariano back to the podcast for his third appearance. We take the opportunity to ask him to get us up to date on San Lorenzo's current very confused off-pitch situation, as well as getting his thoughts on how the team have started the season. We look at a thumping win for Racing in the Avellaneda derby against Independiente, consider wins for both River Plate and Boca Juniors, and discuss two stunning long-range goals, from Newell's Ignacio Scocco and Lanús' Víctor Ayala.

In the seventy-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Dan and Joel look back on Argentina's 3-1 friendly win over Germany hours before, and consider just how little we learned about Argentina from it. We have a Lionel Messi stat-off, before moving on to consider the lowest-scoring round of football in the Argentine Primera División in just over a decade. We wonder who owns Ignacio Piatti, exactly (he's signed for San Lorenzo since the episode was recorded), consider Lucas Ocampos' move to AS Monaco and briefly preview the coming weekend's clásico de Avellaneda among other things. Enjoy.

In the seventy-first episode of Hand Of Pod, we celebrate Joel Richards' liberation from his building after he was locked in during last week's episode. We also look back at an eventful first weekend of action in the Torneo Inicial, which included opening weekend losses for both Boca Juniors and River Plate, as well as a very impressive win - against very poor opposition - for Vélez Sarsfield. We recap Boca's and All Boys' hilarious journey back to Argentina from Venezuela, and preview the Copa Argentina final which - because producer/uploader Sam got the kick off time mixed up for - is being played as I type these words.

The seventieth episode of Hand Of Pod brings a preview of the new season, which for the first time sees the Torneos Apertura and Clausura renamed Inicial and Final, and will see only one champion at the end of the season. Well, that was how it was going to be when we recorded. AFA have since decided there will be a champion at the end of each. Hmm. We discuss the main transfer ins and outs of the winter break, as well as new boys Quilmes' and River Plate's chances of surviving in the Primera, among other things. And this week's Q&A section was conducted live on Twitcam! It's a bumper episode for the season, so enjoy.

Episode 69 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Australian Dan and Joel joined by Christian, a Brazilian who exudes a quiet academic authority over the podcast. He's writing a thesis on us. Sort of. We discuss our various holidays briefly, before diving into what we can remember (and mis-remember) of the last couple of weeks, including Juan Román Riquelme's decision to leave Boca Juniors, River Plate's excellent transfer market moves so far, Maxi Rodríguez's return to Newell's Old Boys and a rather inexpert guide to Córdoba's football culture (you can tell we live in Buenos Aires). All this and much more! Hand Of Pod now also has its own standalone Twitter account, so get following: @HandOfPod.

The sound on the sixty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is bad. We apologise for this, but there's not a lot we could do about it. Sam and English Dan meet via Skype to discuss the final weekend of the 2012 Torneo Clausura, which saw Tigre survive (and thus enter the Copa Sudamericana) and Arsenal de Sarandí claim the first top flight title in their history. San Lorenzo and San Martín are in the relegation playoffs (the first legs of which have been played whilst this pod was being uploaded), whilst Banfield join Olimpo in the automatic relegation spots. But never mind all that: the biggest story in Argentine football right now is that River Plate are back in the Primera! Sam was at the 2-0 win over Almirante Brown which sealed their promotion, and gives his impressions of the season just gone and what there is to come, as well as an apology to Rogelio Funes Mori - yes, really. Enjoy; if you can hear it. HOP will be back in a couple of weeks.

The sixty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan joined by Mariano again, to discuss an intriguing (or conspiratorial) run-in to the end of the Argentine season. This weekend's matches will see the title either go to a tie-breaking playoff or handed to one of Tigre, Arsenal de Sarandí or Boca Juniors, whilst relegation matters will be settled between San Lorenzo, Banfield, Rafaela, Tigre and San Martín - and yes, I did type Tigre's name in both lists just then. Boca Juniors' pathetic performance against Arsenal, Tigre's mathematical chances of both winning the title and being relegated, and fond farewells from home fans to Juan Sebastián Verón, Gabriel Milito and Esteban Fuertes - all this and more in this week's episode. Enjoy.

The sixty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan meet to discuss Tigre's impressive win over San Lorenzo in Sunday's big relegation clash, and where it leaves both sides in the relegation table, as well as those around them. We also discuss Boca Juniors' slip-up in drawing 1-1 away to Banfield, Alejandro Sabella's charge of Argentina and Lionel Messi's brilliant hat trick against Brazil on Saturday, River Plate going top of Nacional B with two games to go before the end of the season, and all the title race talk from the Primera, as well as looking at the Nacional B relegation struggle. There are some very silly listeners' questions this week, but we answer them anyway.

The sixty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is another long one, because we have plenty to discuss. Sam, Dan and Dan are joined by Mariano, a San Lorenzo fan whose Twitter you can find at @ArgenPreviews, to talk about Argentina's Lionel Messi-inspired 4-0 World Cup Qualifying win over Ecuador on Saturday, how Alejandro Sabella's doing so far with the national team, and look forward to this weekend's friendly in New Jersey against Brazil. Then we get onto the real, earth-shaking stuff: previewing Mariano's team San Lorenzo's visit on Sunday to Tigre, a huge relegation clash given both sides' standings in the table. We also look at All Boys midfielder Hugo Barrientos' drug bust, and the Copa Argentina semi-finals (we'll preview the final in more detail later on). Enjoy.

In the sixty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod there's a lot to get through. Sam, Dan and Dan take you through two five-goal thrillers from last weekend, both of which affected the relegation battles, with Olimpo now down with three matches left of the season. We look at Boca Juniors' chances in the league (they're now three points clear at the top) and Copa Libertadores, and briefly look forward to this Saturday's World Cup qualifying match in the Estadio Monumental between Argentina and Ecuador - Sam and Aussie Dan will be there. We've a lot of listeners' questions to answer on everything from how positions are decided in the event of a tie on points to Alejandro Sabella's team selection in the national side. Since we recorded, Boca Juniors put Rosario Central out of the Copa Argentina on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the quarter-final.

The sixty-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan and Dan joined by Joel Richards to discuss another action-packed week in Argentine football. Tigre, astonishingly, might finally manage to climb out of the relegation zone this coming weekend if they beat Atlético Rafaela; Boca Juniors' reserves dispatched Racing 2-0 on Sunday to go top of the league, whilst Tigre, Newell's Old Boys and Arsenal de Sarandí are all only a point behind, and All Boys are probably the most amusing of the potential champions, only two points off the lead. Questions include Boca Juniors' proposed plans for a new stadium, River Plate's likely squad changes if they gain promotion back to the Primera División and more.

The sixty-second episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded by candlelight, after an epic climb up many, many flights of stairs from Sam and English Dan. In it, along with Australian Dan, we discuss San Lorenzo manager Ricardo Caruso Lombardi's streetfight with the assistant of his predecessor, Newell's Old Boys new position alone at the top of the Primera División, River Plate's position in the second division title race, and Boca Juniors' and Vélez Sarsfield's chances in the Copa Libertadores on Thursday night, following their 0-0 draw with one another on Sunday evening. Listeners' questions this week include how much Sam weighs, and which club has the nicest looking female fans.

In the sixty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan are joined by the wonderful Joel Richards to discuss yet another weekend of controversy. There was controversy (though there shouldn't have been) in Rafaela at the end of an incredibly dramatic 2-2 draw between Rafaela and Boca Juniors, a youth player for Banfield shot dead by a policeman, and Independiente's president has declared war on the club's barra brava. We answer questions ranging from Fabián Monzón's chances at future call-ups for Argentina to Manchester City target and River Plate midfielder Ezequiel Cirigliano. Enjoy.