Episode 301: Sweet relief as Argentina scramble out of their World Cup group

For the three hundred and first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés are celebrating after Argentina’s last-gasp 2-1 win over Nigeria saw them through Group D of the 2018 World Cup in second place behind Croatia, and into a second round tie against France. Were the players really picking the team? Was Javier Mascherano awful or amazing? Is Marcos Rojo the greatest footballer of all time? All these questions and more are up for consideration.

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Episode 273: Lessons to learn for Jorge Sampaoli after two uninspiring friendlies

The seventh anniversary episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés get together for a chat about two friendlies which brought more problems to light than reason for optimism for the Argentine national team. A 1-0 win over Russia on Saturday was rather dull, and a 4-2 defeat to Nigeria on Tuesday has set alarm bells ringing well and truly regarding what the best tactics and formation are, and whether certain players ought to still be playing for Argentina at all. We also have a quick look over the Copa Argentina semi-finals, which resulted in a River Plate v Atlético Tucumán final, and discuss the FIFAGate fallout after Alejandro Burzaco’s first two days of testimony in New York.

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This week, Mystic Sam takes on Mystic Youssef in the prediction competition.

Youssef
Argentinos vs Colón
Atl. Tucumán vs Arsenal
Newell’s vs Belgrano
Banfield vs Temperley
Defensa vs Lanús
San Martín vs San Lorenzo
Independiente vs River Plate
Unión vs Chacarita
Tigre vs Estudiantes
Boca vs Racing
Talleres vs Central
Gimnasia vs Patronato
Olimpo vs Godoy Cruz
Huracán vs Vélez

Sam
Argentinos vs Colón
Atl. Tucumán vs Arsenal
Newell’s vs Belgrano
Banfield vs Temperley
Defensa vs Lanús
San Martín vs San Lorenzo
Independiente vs River Plate
Unión vs Chacarita
Tigre vs Estudiantes
Boca vs Racing
Talleres vs Central
Gimnasia vs Patronato
Olimpo vs Godoy Cruz
Huracán vs Vélez

Episode 241: We are six! From despair to relief for Argentina, and returning to league action

The two hundred and forty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés celebrate the podcast’s sixth birthday by discussing two Argentina matches; last Thursday’s awful defeat to Brazil in Belo Horizonte, and Tuesday’s much-improved win over Colombia in San Juan. Does the national team need a clearout? If so, who should be the new names coming in? We also round up some of the main stories from the last week, including Argentinos Juniors arguing with River Plate over youth recruitment, and suggestions that Argentina’s next World Cup qualifier, at home to Chile in March, could be played at La Bombonera. Oh, and there’s a return to league action this weekend to look forward to.

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Mystic Chris’s round 10 predictions (two weeks ago Mystic Hugh got 5/15)
Arsenal v Banfield
Estudiantes v Colón
Godoy Cruz v Tigre
Lanús v Atl. Tucumán
Unión v Temperley
Huracán v Racing
Quilmes v Aldosivi
Belgrano v Sarmiento
Independiente v San Lorenzo
Boca v Central
Atl. Rafaela v Talleres
Newell’s v River
Olimpo v Gimnasia
Patronato v San Martín

Episode 236: What is wrong with Argentina?

The two hundred and thirty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Peter convene to discuss the recent World Cup qualifying double-header: like the midfield on Tuesday night in Córdoba, there’s not an Argentine in sight. We give our thoughts on two bafflingly below-par performances which saw Argentina gain just one point and lose a home World Cup qualifier for the fourth time ever, consider which names we would (and wouldn’t) like to see in the national team setup, and more. And at the end, Peter provides his predictions of what will happen in this weekend’s Primera matches, because Sam forgot to ask any listeners to do the same.

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Mystic Peter’s sixth round predictions (two weeks ago Mystic Liam got 8/15)
Defensa y Justicia v Banfield
Belgrano v Aldosivi
Vélez v Colón
Atl. Rafaela v Racing
Huracán v Temperley
Estudiantes v Central
San Martín v Talleres
Independiente v Atl. Tucumán
Lanús v Godoy Cruz
Olimpo v Tigre
Boca v Sarmiento
Newell’s v Gimnasia
Arsenal v San Lorenzo
Patronato v River
Unión v Quilmes

Episode 203: Argentina aren’t much cop without Messi, and will the title be decided this weekend?

In the two hundred and third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés, English Dan and Fran to look back on a disappointing start to Argentina’s World Cup qualifying campaign, in which without Lionel Messi to provide the inspiration they looked listless and took just one point from matches at home to Ecuador (a 2 -0 defeat) and away to Paraguay (0-0). Why was there no centre forward to call on when Sergio Agüero got injured? Is it worth continuing to call up Carlos Tevez? Is Javier Mascherano being used in the right role? These are just some of the questions we consider. After that, there’s the small matter of Boca Juniors possibly winning the league on Sunday night, when they face Racing, and the rest of a tasty-looking weekend of league action ahead. HOP is sponsored by Argentina Independent, a fine English-language source of news from Argentina and across Latin America.

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Mystic Sam’s twenty-eighth round predictions (from Argentina’s WCQs: 0/2)
Crucero del Norte v Independiente
Huracán v Sarmiento
Lanús v Vélez
Estudiantes v Quilmes
San Martín v Belgrano
Colón v Arsenal
Atl. Rafaela v Godoy Cruz
Chicago v Newell’s
Olimpo v San Lorenzo
Central v Argentinos
Tigre v Banfield
Racing v Boca
River v Aldosivi
Defensa y Justicia v Unión
Temperley v Gimnasia

Episode 198: San Lorenzo beat Boca to top spot, Argentina friendlies and a whole round of clásicos!

The hundred and ninety-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod features Sam, Andrés and Mariano discussing last weekend’s results, including San Lorenzo’s 1-0 win away to Boca Juniors which took them top of the league, and River Plate’s return to winning ways in a 4-1 tonking-which-wasn’t-really-a-tonking of Nueva Chicago. There are also two national team friendlies to discuss, and the main lesson everyone appears to have learned from Argentina’s 7-0 thrashing of Bolivia and their chaotic 2-2 draw with Mexico is that Matías Kranevitter is the real deal, and a lot of other stuff is still up in the air. As well as this, we have a whole round of clásicos to preview, as the AFA’s ridiculous league format reaches its apogee this weekend. It is, admittedly, going to be quite a lot of fun. HOP is sponsored by Argentina Independent, a fine English-language source of news from Argentina and across Latin America.

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Mystic Sam’s clásico weekend predictions (last week: 10/15)
Defensa y Justicia v Arsenal
Atlético de Rafaela v Belgrano
San Martín v Godoy Cruz
Independiente v Racing
Olimpo v Sarmiento
Huracán v San Lorenzo
Chicago v Argentinos
Lanús v Banfield
River v Boca
Estudiantes v Gimnasia
Central v Newell’s
Tigre v Vélez
Colón v Unión
Temperley v Quilmes
Aldosivi v Crucero del Norte

Episode 189: reviewing Argentina’s Copa América campaign and previewing the return of the Primera

Hand Of Pod returns as the Argentine Primera gears up to enter the second half of 2015. Sam and Andrés are here to review Argentina’s Copa América campaign, which saw a second major final in a year, but a second disappointment at the last hurdle. Where do the national team go from here, which players matched up to expectations, who fell short and which younger stars should perhaps be given a chance to shake things up in the coming months? As well as this we look at Carlos Tevez’s return to Boca Juniors and Javier Saviola’s and Lucho González’s to River Plate, consider the other main moves in the transfer market, and answer a few questions from our wonderful listeners, as ever. HOP is sponsored by Argentina Independent, a fine English-language source of news from Argentina and across Latin America.

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