Episode 336: the Copa Superliga gets serious

In the three hundred and thirty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss last weekend’s Copa Superliga action, with the stakes heightening as the top six from the Superliga season just gone enter the competition. There’s also a quick roundup of happenings in the women’s league and the second division, as well as the shortest listeners’ questions section in HOP history, because no one sent us any.

HOP is sponsored by Fanatiz. Fanatiz allows you to watch the Argentine Superliga and the Copa Argentina live or on demand, as well as offering TyCSports International and other premium South American sports channels to viewers outside Latin America. If you’re in the United States, it also allows you to watch the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana live, and European competitions including Spain’s La Liga, via tie-ins with beIN Sports and Gol TV. HOP listeners can get 20% off their first three months with Fanatiz by visiting this page and using the discount code hopfz when signing up.

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 335: the big boys join the Copa Superliga

In the three hundred and fifty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on the second legs of the Copa Superliga first round, which saw a few more interesting matches than the first legs had produced, and look forward to this weekend, when the quality of the competition should improve markedly as the teams who finished first to sixth in the league enter the fray. We also take a look at next season, and the Superliga’s spectacular lack of communication surrounding it, and give you the latest on the battle for promotion from the second division, broken regulations and all.

HOP is sponsored by Fanatiz. Fanatiz allows you to watch the Argentine Superliga and the Copa Argentina live or on demand, as well as offering TyCSports International and other premium South American sports channels to viewers outside Latin America. If you’re in the United States, it also allows you to watch the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana live, and European competitions including Spain’s La Liga, via tie-ins with beIN Sports and Gol TV. HOP listeners can get 20% off their first three months with Fanatiz by visiting this page and using the discount code hopfz when signing up.

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 208: Argentina finally click in World Cup qualifying, and we gear up for the playoffs

The two hundred and eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is a relatively short one (by our standards), in which Sam and English Dan meet to discuss the encouraging improvement in Argentina’s performances in World Cup qualifying, which in the last week have seen them claim a (slightly unlucky) 1-1 draw at home to Brazil and a 1-0 win way to Colombia. Is Gerardo Martino’s ‘idea’ any clearer, and how will it be affected when Lionel Messi returns to the team? We also look forward to the pre-Sudamericana and pre-Libertadores liguillas (playoff tournaments) which are all that now remain of the Argentine Primera season for 2015, and have a rather inexpert go at working out which teams have been and might still be promoted from the second and third divisions. HOP is sponsored by Argentina Independent, a fine English-language source of news from Argentina and across Latin America.

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

Episode 147: Independiente are back & everything you need to know about Argentina at the World Cup!

The hundred-and-forty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod is a very long one, we admit; but not without reason! Sam, Peter, Andrés and German Dan begin by looking at Independiente’s return to the Primera following a mildly controversial 2-0 victory over Huracán in a tie-breaker to decide third place on Wednesday afternoon. After that brief starter, we dig into the main course which, of course, is Argentina at the Brazil 2014 World Cup; whether Lionel Messi can step it up, who the other main players will be, how they’ll most likely line up, what lessons we could take from the friendlies and a lot more. There’s more time than usual given over to listeners’ questions, before as a dessert we have a brief chat about what we think of a few of the other nations. Enjoy.

We might be back after the group stages to sum up Argentina’s tournament so far (well, hopefully it’ll be ‘so far’), but there are no definite plans; the next time you’re certain to hear us will be ahead of the new championship, which starts on this first weekend of August. You can subscribe on iTunes or on Stitcher, and follow us on Twitter.

Episode 116: Racing & Independiente’s new management, Argentinos’ fine start and much more

The hundred-and-sixteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam welcome German/Swiss/Chinese Dan (who is actually English) to his living room, as well as Andrés Bruckner, who makes his HOP debut. Also appearing is Sam’s brother William, who’s in town for a couple of months. Topics up for discussion are Racing and Independiente’s new managers – both have been announced since we last recorded – Argentinos Juniors’ fine start to the season, River Plate’s continuing awfulness, Estudiantes’ renaissance, and the various Copa Sudamericana ties (as this episode is uploaded, River and San Lorenzo are approaching half time in the second leg of theirs). The uploading of this episode was delayed by Jewish new year festivities – Sam’s girlfriend is Jewish – so a belated Shana Tová to all our Jewish listeners!

Mystic Sam’s predictions, as ever, are below. You can click here to subscribe to us on iTunes.

Mystic Sam’s predictions
Vélez v Newell’s
Estudiantes v Belgrano
Godoy Cruz v Colón
Argentinos v All Boys
Rafaela v Gimnasia
Racing v Lanús
Quilmes v Arsenal
Central v San Lorenzo
River v Tigre
Olimpo v Boca

Episode 99: Independiente’s struggles, lower division structures, River’s return to form and more

In the ninety-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are joined by Santiago, the Arsenal de Sarandí fan, to discuss the big moves up and down the table(s) after last weekend’s results in the Torneo Final. Biggest of all was Independiente’s defeat to All Boys, which leaves them seriously compromised in the relegation table, needing some improbable point totals to now stay in the Primera. River Plate finally won a clásico – their first competitive win in one since returning to the Primera – 2-0 away to Racing, and we discuss that, and Manu Lanzini’s fine showing, among a lot more. We talk about the structure of Argentina’s lower divisions, the promotion races in the second and third tiers, and answer a lot of listeners’ questions.

As usual, you can find us here on iTunes, if you want to subscribe.