Episode 379: Boca’s COVID-19 outbreak as the Libertadores returns

This time on Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by English Dan, Tony and Santi to discuss how preparations are going for the return of the Copa Libertadores next week – in particular at Boca Juniors, whose plans have been somewhat hamstrung by almost the entire first team and a bunch of coaches testing positive for COVID-19. Will Argentine clubs be at a disadvantage due to not having played football in six months? What’s happening to the women’s game in the country? These questions and more are answered here.

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Hand Of Pod · Episode 379: Boca’s COVID-19 outbreak as the Libertadores returns

Episode 376: entering quarantine

This week’s Hand Of Pod will be the last episode we’ll record in March. That was already going to be the case when Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Julian and Tony met to record, because the government announced on Monday that football across the country was suspended for the rest of the month. It’s now well and truly the case, though, because on Thursday evening President Alberto Fernández announced a nationwide quarantine which will end when March ends. As such, we review the opening weekend of Copa Superliga action, including River Plate’s refusal to play, and wonder what the immediate future will bring.

You can follow HOP in various ways. We have a Facebook page, and a Twitter page. You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn. And if you’d like to help support the pod financially, you can find us on Patreon.

Episode 368: Back to business

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In the first Hand Of Pod of 2020, Sam, English Dan, Tony and Andrés preview this weekend’s return to Superliga action as the summer break comes to a close. Why are River Plate unhappy with kit suppliers adidas? Will Daniele De Rossi ever truly retire? How much longer will the Superliga be around for? All these questions and more are considered this week.

You can follow HOP in various ways. We have a Facebook page, and a Twitter page. You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn. And if you’d like to help support the pod financially, you can find us on Patreon.

Episode 346: reviewing the Copa América, and setting the stage for the new season

In the three hundred and forty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés meet to discuss the last bits of the Copa América – particularly relating to Argentina’s campaign, and their third-place playoff win over Chile and Lionel Messi’s bizarre sending off for getting in the way of Gary Medel’s shoulders. We also lay the groundwork for the 2019–20 domestic season, with news of the structure of the top two divisions, and a name change for the latter.

You can follow HOP in various ways. We have a Facebook page, and a Twitter page. You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn. And if you’d like to help support the pod financially, you can find us on Patreon.

Episode 305: the new season is just around the corner

The three hundred and fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés all excited because there are fewer than ten days remaining until the start of the 2018–19 Superliga season, and we’ve got some kickoff times to tell you about. We discuss which teams still have some work to do in the transfer market (including a bit of a fuss about whether Boca Juniors should be allowed to sign the left back they want), River Plate’s rather lovely kit, which is free of sponsors on the chest until December, and the AFA’s apparent decision to wait until December before deciding on a new manager; it seems youth team managers Lionel Scaloni and Pablo Aimar will be in charge of the Argentina team who will head to the United States for friendlies against Colombia and Guatemala next month.

You can follow HOP in various ways. We have a Facebook page, for example, and we’re on Twitter as well. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. And if you’d like to help support the pod financially, you can find us on Patreon.

Episode 304: Getting into our cups

The three hundred and fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés catching up with what’s been going on in the Copa Argentina, which has seen a number of shocks this year but notably not in Independiente’s or River Plate’s matches since we last recorded – those two scored fifteen goals between them in seeing off Central Ballester and Central Norte respectively. There’s also a look at the round of 32 of the Copa Sudamericana, which is well underway (indeed, for Lanús it’s finished) and listeners’ questions ranging from the national team to Argentines abroad to the structure of the Superliga and the mysterious Copa de la Superliga.

You can follow HOP in various ways. We have a Facebook page, for example, and we’re on Twitter as well. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. And if you’d like to help support the pod financially, you can find us on Patreon.

Episode 303: Replacing Sampaoli, and the Superliga season to come

The three hundred and third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés to discuss where the Argentine national team go next after parting ways with Jorge Sampaoli, and also to look forward to the upcoming Superliga season (the fixtures for which were released on Thursday, after we recorded this episode) and go over the main transfer business of the window so far.

You can follow HOP in various ways. We have a Facebook page, for example, and we’re on Twitter as well. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. And if you’d like to help support the pod financially, you can find us on Patreon.

Episode 250: What’s wrong with Argentina, and how to fix it, with Jonathan Wilson

This week’s episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony joined by the man who literally wrote the book on Argentine football, because Jonathan Wilson’s in town just for our two hundred and fiftieth episode (okay, not just for that). We have two awful performances from the Argentine national team to discuss – a win over Chile and a defeat away to Bolivia – as well as Lionel Messi’s suspension for saying some naughty words to a linesman, Edgardo Bauza’s future job security now the AFA (hours before we began recording) finally has a new president and board of directors, and a nearly full round of Primera División matches, since the summer delay meant the AFA is obliged to play through the international break in order to catch up the season a bit in terms of how far it ought to have progressed by now. Enjoy.

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Mystic Vincent’s eighteenth round predictions (last week Mystic Dez got 10/14!)
Atl. Tucumán v Gimnasia
Independiente v Vélez
Newell’s v Atl. Rafaela
Temperley v Aldosivi
Quilmes v Racing
Belgrano v Colón
Boca v Defensa y Justicia
Estudiantes v Arsenal
Lanús v Banfield
Sarmiento v Central
Tigre v San Lorenzo
Huracán v Patronato
Godoy Cruz v River
Olimpo v San Martín
Unión v Talleres

Episode 237: Tearing up the formbook, and yet more AFA nonsense

The two hundred and thirty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés convene on a rainy evening in Buenos Aires to discuss a weekend in which a storm blew through the Argentine formbook: three previously unbeaten members of the Big Five lost for the first time this season, as did Colón – who also conceded for the first time in this campaign. Estudiantes’ defence was finally breached as well, although they managed to win anyway in a wildly entertaining 3-2 romp over Rosario Central, whilst Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo both made clear their title ambitions are for real with wins of their own. Off the pitch there’s yet more chaos at the AFA, with people accusing other people of failing to comply by FIFA directives in spite of a) the people in question having been put in place by FIFA and b) the directives in question being NINE YEARS OLD. There’s never a dull moment in the world of Argentine football administration…

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Mystic Sam’s seventh round predictions (last week Mystic Peter got 4/15)
Sarmiento v Olimpo
Talleres v Defensa y Justicia
Quilmes v Lanús
Godoy Cruz v Belgrano
Temperley v Independiente
Colón v Patronato
Racing v Arsenal
River v Atl. Rafaela
Gimnasia v Huracán
Banfield v Vélez
Central v Newell’s
Tigre v Unión
San Lorenzo v Estudiantes
Atl. Tucumán v Boca
Aldosivi v San Martín

Episode 230: Previewing the new season & Jonathan Wilson on his new book

At long last, the Hand Of Pod 2016-17 season preview is here! Sam is joined by Andrés and Tony to look over the main transfer moves and some of what we can expect from the main contenders on the pitch in the coming months, as well as explaining why we can only be definitely assured of football until December, for the moment. We also preview Argentina’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers at home to Uruguay and away to Venezuela, since there will be no HOP next week as Sam’s off to Mendoza to cover the former. And there’s a chat with Jonathan Wilson, who tells us a bit about his new book on the history of Argentine football, Angels With Dirty Faces – why he wrote it, some of the things he uncovered and more.

You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher, and follow us on Twitter.

Mystic Sam’s first round predictions
Sarmiento v Arsenal
Godoy Cruz v Huracán
Gimnasia v Vélez
Central v Defensa y Justicia
Racing v Talleres
Atlético Tucumán v Atlético de Rafaela
San Lorenzo v San Martín
Tigre v Estudiantes
Quilmes v Newell’s
Belgrano v Independiente
Unión v Olimpo
River v Banfield
Lanús v Boca
Aldosivi v Colón
Temperley v Patronato