This week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés look back on a double header of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers that saw Argentina draw a water polo match away to Venezuela before turning on the style – and seeing Lionel Messi roll back the years – with a 6–0 win over Bolivia. We also look at the qualifiers from elsewhere on the continent and talk AFA politics (again).

Sam, English Dan, Chris and Santi recorded early in the week this time, in order to preview Argentina's two Dibu Martínez-less World Cup qualifiers away to Venezuela on (hopefully) Thursday and at home to Bolivia next Tuesday. We also review the weekend's action in the Liga Profesional and ask whether the AFA are seriously about to cancel relegation from the top flight this year after all.

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Chris review a round of Liga Profesional matches that saw Talleres claim an away win over River Plate which, along with Vélez Sarsfield's 3–0 capitulation to Rosario Central a couple of days later, helped them move to within three points of top spot. We also have a look at the latest Argentina squad, news of Boca Juniors sacking their manager, Iker Muniain scoring his first (and second) goal(s) for San Lorenzo and more.

Sam, English Dan, Santi, Andrés and Chris got together this week to look back on a good week to be a River Plate fan, after the Millonarios edged Boca Juniors in a tetchy superclásico before getting past Colo-Colo in the Copa Libertadores. Dan is also in a good mood, having watched Racing reach their own continental semifinal in the Sudamericana – their first international semi since 1997 – and Lanús are there as well. Meanwhile Vélez Sarsfield still lead the league and Santi remains frustrated with Independiente.

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi review a weekend of Liga Profesional action that saw Vélez Sarsfield extend their lead at the top of the league to five points (the race for second place is MUCH tighter) and River Plate put an end to their run of drawing in the league and winning in the Copa Libertadores by ... winning in the league and drawing in the Copa. We also have some talk about the latest political rumblings at the AFA and Juan Sebastián Verón's hopes of private financing (but not ownership) at Estudiantes.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a double header of World Cup qualifying action that saw Argentina beat Chile and lose the Copa América final rematch to Colombia, while Uruguay drew 0–0 twice in a row, Brazil continued to struggle and Bolivia – Bolivia! – were the only team to win both their games, including their first away win in World Cup qualifying since 1993.

Vélez Sarsfield have hit a fine run of form, and this week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a weekend that saw them open up a little daylight at the top of the league thanks to Huracán dropping points. There was a ridiculous red card for one of Godoy Cruz's medics, River Plate still can't win (or lose) domestically under Marcelo Gallardo and we've a World Cup qualifying double header to look forward to.

This week Sam, English Dan and Santi look back on an Avellaneda clásico that saw Independiente battle to a goalless draw away to Racing. We also discuss Vélez Sarsfield going joint top with Huracán, the possibility of Athletic Club de Bilbao legend Iker Muniain signing for San Lorenzo and plenty more besides.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés review two weeks of Liga Profesional action which saw Huracán hold on to top spot in the league while Marcelo Gallardo seemed to announce his return to River Plate by doing the same thing he always did before: winning in continental competition but struggling (or taking it less seriously?) domestically. We also have a review of the Sudamericana and Libertadores knockouts, and bid farewell to Humberto Maschio, the last of the Angels With Dirty Faces, who died on Tuesday aged 91.

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi review a round of Liga Profesional action that saw a lot of draws, but Walter Bou rescued us from yet another with perhaps the best goal of the weekend anywhere in the world to give Lanús a 90th-minute winner over Tigre. Marcelo Gallardo has been unveiled as River Plate manager and as if things weren't bad enough for Independiente, cracks are appearing in their stadium ...

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi review last weekend's action in the Liga Profesional, which includes wiping some egg off our faces after the thing we said last week surely wouldn't actually happen – River Plate sacking Martín Demichelis – happened within hours of HOP500 going online. In other news, Argentina's Olympic team were eliminated just before we recorded, meaning Julián Álvarez has no longer won every competition he's played in at the first attempt.

We're 500 episodes old, and to celebrate Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi got together to talk about not one but two rounds of Liga Profesional action, including a continuing crisis of identity for River Plate and the first bumps in the road for Huracán's title charge among other things. The Olympic football tournament got underway on Wednesday, and we have some thoughts about the ridiculous fashion Argentina's defeat to Morocco ended in.

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Andrés and Santi get together to review Argentina's 2024 Copa América final victory over Colombia ... but first we have to talk about that Enzo Fernández video. And there was also all the nonsense before the final was played. In short, it's a more muted celebration than we'd been hoping to have. On a more positive note, club football is already back in South America, and with it the opportunity to laugh at Boca Juniors.

Sunday brings yet another final for Argentina, so on Friday evening Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Chris and Santi got together to review the quarter- and semifinals of the 2024 Copa América (for all the teams) and preview the final. Listeners' questions include the possibility of England meeting Argentina in the Finalissima and how hefty Marcelo Bielsa's fine will be after his explosive press conference.

The Copa América group stage is over, so this week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Chris review them – first in detail from Argentina's point of view and then more generally with a look at how the other sides got on, as well as previewing the knockout stage. Are Brazil going to get better? Why did the USA and Mexico disappoint? And who's the red-hot striker who led Venezuela to first place in their group for the first time ever?

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Chris give you a quick review of the main talking points from the last round of Liga Profesional action before the break for the Copa América and then get stuck into the main order of the day: previewing Argentina's attempt to defend their title, which kicks off when they take on Canada on Thursday evening.

This week Sam, Santi and Andrés review last weekend's Liga Profesional games, which saw a last-gasp win for leaders Racing over bottom-of-the-table Riestra. We also look (again) at Independiente's managerial situation, which took an amusing (to non-Independiente fans) turn after we discussed it two weeks ago, and talk a bit about the national team ahead of their pre-Copa América friendlies against Ecuador and Guatemala.

This week Sam, English Dan and Chris welcome special guest Benjy Nurick, who's in town researching a book about how porteños do football. We look back on last weekend's Liga Profesional matches, including some liquid football (albeit against not the best opposition) from Racing, and review almost all of the last full week of Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana group games.

This week Sam, Andrés and (for one half only) Santi discuss the second round of Liga Profesional matches, which saw an awful lot of draws. We talk about River Plate's Copa Argentina elimination (and ongoing lack of direction) under Martín Demichelis, Carlos Tevez's departure from Independiente and Argentina's preliminary Copa América squad, among much more.

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi look back on an opening weekend of Liga Profesional action that saw Racing throw away two points in a goalfest, River Plate cruise to victory and plenty more besides. We also have a Copa Libertadores update and a short rant about the state of football journalism these days.

On Sunday César Luis Menotti, who managed Argentina to their first World Cup win and oversaw the creation of the structure around the country's national teams to this day, died at the age of 85. Sam, English Dan and Chris discuss his importance to Argentine football. We also review the semis and final of the Copa de la Liga and preview the 2024 league season, which kicks off this weekend.

This week Sam, English Dan and Chris look back over last weekend's Copa de la Liga quarterfinals and forward to Sunday and Tuesday's semifinals as the first 'half' of the Argentine season nears an end.

This week Sam, English Dan and Chris review an entertaining end to Group B in the Copa de la Liga and a really thrilling climax to Group A. They also look ahead to this weekend's quarterfinals, which include a superclásico between Group A winners River Plate and Group B fourth-placers Boca Juniors on Sunday.

The Copa de la Liga group stage ends this weeke— well, in the first half of next week, actually, and Sam, English Dan, Santi and Chris are here to run down which teams need which results to make it into the quarterfinals, with only runaway Group B winners Godoy Cruz already knowing which position they'll finish in. We also look at the first couple of rounds of Copa Libertadores group games and have a bumper postbag of listeners' questions.

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi look back on Argentina's two comfortable friendly wins over El Salvador and Costa Rica in the United States, which included Alejandro Garnacho's first start – a performance Sam has some thoughts about. There have been a bunch of Copa Argentina games since we last recorded, and listeners' questions include who's playing in this year's edition and how the very bottom league of the pyramid has gone so far.

This week's pod was delayed by two days due to rain, so Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Chris and Santi met up on Friday evening to talk about last weekend's Copa de la Liga matches – including a win for River Plate, defeat for Independiente and not much else of real note – and to have a look at Argentina's squad for their friendlies against El Salvador (played right after we finished recording) and Costa Rica, as well as the Copa Libertadores group stage draw.

This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Andrés and Santi look back on a Copa de la Liga weekend that saw an awful lot of draws, including one between Independiente and River Plate that gives us a chance to discuss both managers' 2024s so far. Wednesday evening saw River claim another (minor) trophy, and we also discuss national team news, including new kits and Lionel Scaloni's decision to call up Lisandro Martínez even though he's not back from injury yet.

This week Sam, Dan and Andrés round up the last couple of rounds of Copa de la Liga action, which saw Godoy Cruz lose for the first time (domestically) this year, leaving River Plate – who ended a run of four straight draws by beating Independiente Rivadavia on Wednesday – as the last unbeaten side in the competition. Boca Juniors aren't much good, Carlos Tevez is a conspiracy theorist and we have a short roundup of the lower leagues so far, now that they've mostly kicked off.

This week's episode follows one that we recorded last week and that, due to a combination of tiredness and busyness, Sam never uploaded. You'll be able to hear it if you head over to patreon.com/handofpod. Here, though, Sam, Chris and Andrés review last weekend's clásicos, which saw a draw between River and Boca, away wins in Rosario and Avellaneda and plenty more besides.

This week we look at two rounds of Copa de la Liga action that saw Racing score eight and concede only one, River have a good game and a bad one, and Vélez Sarsfield win late on not once but twice. And Javier Mascherano's quest for a third Olympic gold medal is still alive, because Argentina Under-23s have qualified for the football tournament at Paris 2024.

This week Sam, Dan and Andrés discuss a long 'weekend' of Copa de la Liga action that saw two thrashings, one fine turnaround and not an awful lot more excitement. There's also chat about Franco Mastantuono, who on Wednesday broke Javier Saviola's record as River Plate's youngest ever goalscorer, and an update on how the Olympic qualifying competition is going.

This week Sam, Andrés, Dan and Santi bid farewell to Tony, who's hosting us as he appears on his final episode (at least as a regular panelist). We discuss the opening two rounds of the Copa de la Liga, which included two wins from two matches for Santi's team Independiente, who had a chaotic/hilarious/mysterious story in preseason that we forgot to tell you about last week.

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Chris and Tony preview the Copa de la Liga, which kicked off moments before we started to record. We take a look at the main moves in the transfer market, tell you the acceptable ways to shorten club names (and how to tell all the Central Córdobas apart), ask whether Argentina's Under-23s are rubbish or not and answer some listeners' questions.

This week's episode is our last one of 2023, and Sam, English Dan and Andrés meet to discuss the Copa de la Liga semis and final, which saw Rosario Central emerge victorious, and the Copa Argentina, which was won by Estudiantes. Boca Juniors have finally held their elections, as have Tigre, San Lorenzo and Colón, and Sam is worried about whether he'll be older than every player in the top flight when the 2024 season kicks off.

This week Sam, English Dan and Chris review last weekend's Copa de la Liga quarterfinals, which saw three ties decided by shootouts. We also discuss Riestra's promotion to the top flight and the ongoing court wrangling that continues to delay Boca Juniors' presidential elections.

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Chris look back on the final weekend of the Copa de la Liga group stage action and Colón's loss to Gimnasia on Friday evening in the relegation tie-breaker. There's also a lower division update and some chat about Boca Juniors' presidential election, which currently looks unlikely to happen.

This week Sam, Dan, Chris and Andrés discuss a mixed international break for the Argentine national team, as their perfect start to World Cup 2026 qualifying came to an end with a loss to Uruguay on Thursday but they followed up by handing Brazil their first ever home defeat in WCQs on Tuesday night. After that match Lionel Scaloni hinted he might not hang around much longer, and we also consider some of the possible reasons behind that statement.

We're back! Sam's returned from Europe, and Dan, Andrés and Chris fill him in on the main points of everything he's missed during the Copa de la Liga group stage. We also discuss the Copa Libertadores final (which Sam did watch), in which Boca Juniors lost to Fluminense, and preview Argentina's two upcoming World Cup qualifiers at home to Uruguay on Thursday and away to Brazil on Tuesday.

First, sorry for the poor sound in this episode. Second, sorry for the fact that Sam had to scat the theme tune. In the middle of Sam's holiday, we have a catch-up episode in which he, Dan and Andrés review the recent round of clásicos and the Copa de la Liga group stage so far and take a look at how the early qualifying stages of Argentina's World Cup defence are going.

The Copa de la Liga got underway last weekend, but because Sam's phone app lied to him a couple of weeks ago about when it would be, we'd already penned this week in to record the preview episode, so here it is. Recorded along with Chris, Andrés and English Dan. We also look back on the first leg of Boca Juniors v Racing in the Libertadores quarter-finals, among other things. This will be the last regular episode for a little while, as Sam's off on a trip, but regular (much shorter) episodes will be going online during his time away for Patreon fans over at patreon.com/handofpod.

It's a short episode this week, with Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Chris reviewing the Copa Libertadores exits of River Plate and Argentinos Juniors and the qualifications of Boca Juniors and Racing. The latter two will meet each other in the quarter-finals, which start next week.

We've got plenty to get through this week: Sam, English Dan and Andrés review the 2023 Liga Profesional campaign and decide on the best players who weren't playing for River, look at the biggest transfer stories of the winter so far including Edinson Cavani finally signing for Boca and River bringing Manuel Lanzini home, lament Argentina's frustration at the Women's World Cup and marvel at the continuing tactical bravery of North American club sides in their stalwart refusal to bother even trying to mark the best attacker of all time when he gets near the box.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a weekend that saw plenty of goals in the Liga Profesional, including a first domestic home defeat of the year for San Lorenzo and a 3–3 draw in Rosario. We also review Argentina's agonising 1–0 defeat to Italy in their opening match of the Women's World Cup (followed up with a 2–2 draw against South Africa shortly after we recorded this episode) and Lionel Messi's first couple of appearances for Inter Miami (or what we've seen of them, which isn't much).

River Plate have been crowned champions of Argentina again, and this week Sam, Andrés and English Dan look at the key players in their campaign and reflect on a good start to life as a first-team manager for Martín Demichelis (hours before Talleres put River out of the Copa Argentina). We also look forward to the Women's World Cup kicking off and discuss the financial sustainability (or otherwise) of Argentine football clubs.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés can't quite give you the confirmation that River Plate have won the title, but Martín Demichelis's men are now nine points clear with nine to play for, so it doesn't seem like it'll be much longer. We also discuss Lionel Messi's first day at Inter Miami, the Copa Sudamericana playoffs beginning and more.

(This week's episode is a little delayed being uploaded, but while River Plate have played since we recorded, they're still not champions yet: they drew with San Lorenzo on Saturday, meaning they'll only take the title if Talleres lose on Monday.) In this episode Sam, Andrés and Dan discuss them reaching the brink of the title, Racing continuing to disappoint (and bidding farewell to Paolo Guerrero) and much more.

This week's HOP is a little different from normal, because Sam and Tony met up on Thursday to interview Club León and Argentina midfielder Sophia Braun ahead of the Women's World Cup. After that, on Friday, Sam went to Dan's place, and the two of them reviewed last week's action in the league (the main results since then before this pod went online were that River lost and Talleres were held to a draw on Saturday, cutting River's lead to 9 points) and the closing matches of the group stages in the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look at a week of Liga Profesional action which saw River Plate maintain the gap at the top even as Talleres leapfrogged San Lorenzo into second. Elsewhere, Uruguay claimed the Under-20 World Cup, beating Italy in the final in La Plata, and Lionel Messi scored his 103rd international goal – and the earliest goal of his career – and Alejandro Garnacho made his international debut as Argentina beat Australia 2–0 in a friendly in Beijing.

This week Sam and English Dan round up last week's league action (including tragic news from the Monumental) and the midweek Libertadores and Sudamericana results, and have a chat about Lionel Messi's move to Inter Miami. Will it extend his international career? When will he make his debut? And will we down here actually be able to watch any of his matches? All these questions and more are answered. Or at least speculated over.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a weekend that saw River Plate held to a draw that still allowed them to extend their lead at the top of the league thanks to a shock defeat for San Lorenzo earlier in the round. Boca Juniors actually played well for once, Argentina (and England) are out of the Under-20 World Cup ... but most importantly of all, José Sand broke his own record as the oldest player to score in Argentina's top flight through a stoppage time penalty for Lanús against Independiente at the age of 42 years, 10 months and 10 days.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a couple of weeks of action during which San Lorenzo have closed the gap slightly on River Plate at the top of the table, River's prospects in the Copa Libertadores aren't looking good, and the Under-20 World Cup has begun ... and Argentina aren't awful.

This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on last weekend's superclásico, which ended in a 1–0 win for River Plate after a stoppage time penalty Boca Juniors weren't happy about. Dan has cause to lament Racing's recent form, we update you on Independiente's influencer-led fundraiser and more.

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).

This week Sam and Santi look back on both Copa Libertadores semi-finals, one of which was rather more dramatic and closely fought than the other, and preview Sunday's superclásico at the Bombonera. We also discuss a tightening title race, as Atlético Tucumán have picked up just one point from two games since we last recorded, allowing Gimnasia to go dead level with them at the top of the table.

This week, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back at last weekend's matches – which included a 4–0 win with two golazos included for league leaders Atlético Tucumán – and ask how much sense it really makes for the AFA to (reportedly) be considering remodelling Mar Del Plata's Estadio José María Minella to use as a home ground for the national team.

This week Sam, English Dan and Santi look back on not one but two weeks of Liga Profesional action, with Atlético Tucumán still leading the way, Gimnasia giving chase and River Plate looking like they'd sparked into life before falling back to Earth again against Arsenal. There's also a look at the possible structure of the top flight during 2023, which is set to be discussed in an AFA board meeting on Friday morning.

This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony are visited by listener Tommy to discuss a week of action that's seen Atlético Tucumán remain top of the table with an unlikely chasing pack, and Vélez Sarsfield emerge as the only Argentine (and indeed non-Brazilian) semifinalists in this year's Copa Libertadores, after they beat Talleres pretty comfortably over two legs and Estudiantes got hit by the mother of all sucker punches from Athletico Paranaense.

This week, Sam and Dan look back on a weekend which saw Atlético Tucumán remain four points clear at the top of the league, a six-goal thriller in Avellaneda and both River and Boca lose. In the Copa Libertadores, the first leg of Vélez Sarsfield v Talleres was an absolute humdinger, and our listeners' questions include one about the chances of Ricardo Caruso Lombardi catching monkeypox.

It's only been a week since our last episode, but this week felt particular packed, with plenty of stuff to discuss both on and off the pitch in the league and Tigre being shocked in the Copa Argentina by Deportivo Madryn, as well as a Copa América Femenina update. Sam, English Dan and Andrés talk you through it all.

This week, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on almost two full rounds of action that included Carlos Tevez's Rosario Central winning the clásico rosarino against Newell's Old Boys, and reflect on a top five that currently includes exactly no teams we'd have predicted would be in the top five after nine matches. We also ask whether Rodrigo De Paul's place in Argentina's World Cup squad could be endangered by his divorce proceedings, and because that apparently isn't quite WTF enough, we discuss the news that Maxi López is (one of) the new owner(s) of Birmingham City?!

This week, Sam and English Dan look back on last week's league games, including a whole load of 3–2s and a 1–0 win for Racing over Independiente, consider the main runners in the title race and more bad results for River Plate and Boca Juniors. The title is already out of date, because thanks to a 1–0 win over Aldosivi on Friday night, at the time of uploading this episode Atlético Tucumán(!) were top of the league.

This week, Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés catch you up with last weekend's league action but spend the bulk of the podcast talking Libertadores, and in particular going over the eliminations of Boca Juniors, who reacted by firing Sebastián Battaglia, and River Plate, who (unsurprisingly) did not react by firing Marcelo Gallardo. Vélez Sarsfield, Talleres(!) and – confirmed after we finished recording – Estudiantes are Argentina's three representatives in the last eight, but they'll have to fight their ways past five Brazilian sides to taste glory.

After a planned week off followed by an unplanned bout of COVID for Sam which forced a second week off (hard to record a podcast when you've got a slight fever and your throat hurts too much to talk), Sam, Santi and English Dan are back – over Zoom – to look back on the four rounds of Liga Profesional action we've missed and the start of the rounds of sixteen in the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana.

This week Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés look back on the opening weekend of the 2022 Liga Profesional and Racing's shocking (but not really that shocking, perhaps) Copa Argentina exit against Agropecuario Argentino. We also talk about Santi's experience last week at Wembley for Argentina v Italy and look back on Argentina's 5–0 win over Estonia, in which Lionel Messi scored all five goals, going past Ferenc Puskás in the all-time international goals list and Pelé in the all-time goals in official matches list in the process.

This week, Sam and English Dan look back on South American champions Argentina playing European champions Italy off the Wembley pitch on Wednesday night in the revived Artemio Franchi trophy match, look at the last sixteen draws of the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana, and celebrate the fact that the long Argentine winter break is over after all of twelve days since the Copa de la Liga ended, because the Liga Profesional started a few hours before this episode was uploaded!

This week, Sam and English Dan look back on the semis and the final of the Copa de la Liga, which saw Boca Juniors lift the trophy but NOT, after all the fuss at the start of the competition about how it would count as a league title, being crowned the champions of Argentina for some very AFA reasons. We also look back (and into the present, as we were recording) on the final round of matches in the group stages of the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana, and if you don't know how Boca did on Thursday night and whether or not they've qualified you'll want to keep listening after the end theme music.

The Copa de la Liga knockout stage has begun, and after Tuesday's two matches brought the expected home wins for Racing and Boca Juniors, who'll meet in the first semifinal on Saturday, Wednesday saw two shock results, as Argentinos Juniors outplayed Estudiantes before putting them out on spot kicks and Tigre took advantage of a howling defensive error to beat River Plate, in spite of a Puskás Award contender from Enzo Fernández. Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés are on hand to talk you through it all.

This week, Sam and English Dan look back on last week's action and (most of) the midweek Sudamericana and Libertadores results, as well as looking forward to this weekend's last group stage matches in the Copa de la Liga.

This week's HOP sees the return of a prodigal son, as Sam, English Dan and Andrés welcome Seba back to the studio, and it's an epic chat taking in Racing's fine form, the Estudiantes machine, racism in Argentina (including a very brief history lesson on the colonisation of Patagonia) and more.

We've got plenty of catching up to do now Sam and Dan are back from their (separate) holidays, and they're joined by Andrés, Tony and Santi to dive deep into the waters of the Copa de la Liga, including Racing's magnificent form, a surprising win for Talleres against River Plate and Independiente's deep, abiding, lustful love of a sweet, sweet draw.

This week, Sam and English Dan review the weekend of clásicos, which saw away wins for ... well, quite a lot of teams actually, including Boca Juniors over River Plate and Racing over Independiente. We then switch our attention to Thursday night's upcoming CONMEBOL WORLD CUP QUALIFYING FIGHT TO THE DEATH which, erm, actually probably won't finalise things, but Uruguay v Peru should be tremendously entertaining for the neutral all the same.

This week on HOP, Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss last weekend's matches and look forward to this weekend's glut of clásicos, including most notably Saturday's clásico de Avellaneda and Sunday's superclásico.

In this week's episode Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés are back in the same room. We look back on last weekend's Copa de la Liga action, with Estudiantes dropping points for the first time. It's hard not to admire Lionel Scaloni trolling Italy and (especially) Spain by calling up a plethora of dual nationals for Argentina's final two World Cup qualifiers, too.

On this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi look back on a weekend which saw two all-Big Five clásicos both end 2–2: Independiente v Boca Juniors, which was played in a deluge of Biblical proportions (and saw some atrocious refereeing) and River Plate v Racing, which was a classic game of two halves. There's plenty of love for Defensa y Justicia and Estudiantes, as well, as their good starts to the season continue (Estudiantes made it through to the Libertadores third qualifying round shortly after we finished recording), and some Argentina travel tips for one of our listeners!

This week's HOP is the first since the 2022 domestic Argentine season began, so Sam, English Dan and Tony look back on the first three rounds of the Copa de la Liga. Unión, Platense and Estudiantes have started well, Racing aren't looking terrible and most importantly for everyone who likes sexy football, Juan Fernando Quintero is BACK.

Domestic Argentine football is back! In this week's HOP Sam, Andrés and Tony look back on the main transfer moves (and one big transfer remaining-in-place-for-now) and ask which clubs, if any, will be able to keep up with River Plate this year.

We're back! In the first HOP of 2022 Sam and Santi preview Argentina's World Cup qualifying double header, which will see a trip to Chile followed by a home match against Colombia. Lionel Messi isn't involved, and nor are various others (even manager Lionel Scaloni will be missing against Chile due to COVID), but the team will have a familiar look all the same.

There are still a couple of matches left in Argentine football this year, but recording seems unlikely next week so Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi got together on Friday to look back on 2021. Which clubs enjoyed the year the most, which individuals stood out in the league campaign that's just finished and, of course, do we think it was a successful year for the national team?

On this week's Hand Of Pod Sam, English Dan and Tony discuss a couple of weeks of action which included Boca Juniors lifting the Copa Argentina after a shootout win over Talleres, River Plate's long unbeaten run finally coming to an end in a thrilling game against Defensa y Justicia and the highest scoring clásico platense ever, as Gimnasia and Estudiantes drew 4–4.

This week's Hand Of Pod was recorded late in the week, because it made little sense to record before Thursday night, when River Plate did just about enough to scrape the result they needed at home to Racing to claim their thirty-seventh Argentine league title. Sam, Andrés and English Dan look back on a thoroughly convincing title win, ask what comes next for Marcelo Gallardo and tell you about Argentina's National Monument to the Football, which Sam unexpectedly saw on holiday last month as a result of a car breakdown.

This week, Sam's voice sounds ridiculous for the first half of the episode because Santi and Andrés didn't say anything about it until the half-time break. The three of them discuss Argentina's two recent World Cup qualifiers – a 1–0 win away to Uruguay and a 0–0 draw at home to Brazil – which (together with Ecuador claiming a 2–0 win away to Chile on Tuesday night) confirmed Argentina's place at the 2022 World Cup.

This week Sam and Santi look back on three weeks of action (due to Sam first being on holiday and then being very busy) during which the title race seems to have swung decisively in River Plate's favour. We wax lyrical about Julián Álvarez (Independiente fan Santi even compares him to a young Sergio Agüero) and answer some listeners' questions. We also preview Friday and Tuesday's World Cup qualifying double header, in which Argentina have their two biggest clásicos: first they travel across the Río de la Plata to face Uruguay, then they head to San Juan, where they'll host Brazil.

Allow us one indulgent episode title about ourselves rather than the football we're covering, because this week's episode was the first since March 2020 to be recorded with all of us in the same living room. Sam, English Dan and Andrés get reacquainted with one another and discuss Argentina's World Cup qualifying draw with Paraguay and wins over Uruguay and Peru before going over the last couple of rounds of action in the Liga Profesional.

This week's Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Santi and Andrés review a couple of rounds of league action, including River Plate's 2–1 win over Boca Juniors in Sunday's superclásico, which sent River top of the table. We also preview the upcoming World Cup qualifying triple header, in which (as long as no health authorities invade the pitch this time) Argentina will take on Paraguay in Asunción and Uruguay and Peru in Buenos Aires.

This week, Sam and English Dan catch up with what's been going on in the three weeks since we last recorded. The main focus is on trying to unpick exactly what went on in São Paulo a couple of weeks back when the Brazil v Argentina World Cup qualifier was called off – and what do we think will happen next? We also give you a quick overview of the other World Cup qualifying matches (including yet another record for Lionel Messi) and give you a Liga Profesional update.

On this week's HOP Sam, English Dan and Santi preview the upcoming World Cup qualifying triple-header, and have a rant at the (partially successful) attempt by English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese clubs to distort the World Cup qualifying process.

In this week's HOP, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi discuss a week which has seen Argentina's last two representatives – River Plate and Rosario Central – dumped out of the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana, and look back on last weekend's Liga Profesional action.

In this week's HOP Sam, English Dan and Santi catch up on what's been going on in the two weeks since we were last able to record. It's been an OK couple of weeks for Independiente (who at least one their clásico), an underwhelming one for Boca Juniors (even though they won their clásico ... well, a shootout), a poor one for River Plate and a manager-sacking one for Racing. Much happier, though, are league leaders Colón and Lanús striker José Sand, who just can't stop scoring goals. Oh and apparently Lionel Messi moved clubs? We're surprised no one's really been talking about it.

In this week's HOP, Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Santi and Tony look back on the first three rounds of action in the 2021 Liga Profesional de Fútbol, as well as on both legs of the last sixteen ties in the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana, which have left just River Plate (in the Libertadores) and Rosario Central (in the Sudamericana) flying the flag for Argentine football in the quarters.

We can finally shout it! After a 28-year wait Argentina ended their trophy drought on Saturday with a 1–0 win over Brazil in the final of the Copa América, and Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés are here to look back on a final – and a tournament – that brings hope for the future and proves many critics (including us!) wrong about some players, but does demonstrate that the universe can have a hell of a sense of humour sometimes. We also preview the new league season, which gets underway on Friday night.

After Argentina made their way past Ecuador and Colombia to reach a third Copa América final in four tournaments, Sam, English Dan and Santi preview Saturday's final against host nation Brazil, who've never failed to win a Copa on home soil.

On this week's HOP the world's newest football commentator Sam is joined by English Dan, Santi and Andrés for a look back on the group stage of the 2021 Copa América – in particular at Argentina's performances – and a preview of the quarter-finals, which kick off on Friday evening.

In the four hundredth episode of HOP, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony discuss Colón's deserved victory in the final of the Copa de la Liga – their first ever national title – before reviewing the recent World Cup qualifying double header and previewing the 2021 Copa América, which kicks off in Brazil on Sunday having been moved from Argentina and Colombia for Reasons.

This week's HOP was meant to be a quick affair but ended up being a full-length episode, as Sam and Santi looked back on the final weekend of group stage action in the Copa de la Liga, look forward to this weekend's quarter-finals, including the third superclásico of the year as Boca Juniors host River Plate on Sunday afternoon, and round up the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana action.

This week on Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Tony, Andrés and Santi bring you up to date with the Copa de la Liga as the group stage enters its final weekend, and also look at the Copa Libertadores group stage so far. It's news to Sam, but this year the Copa Sudamericana also has a group stage!

This week's Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Santi review the last few weeks' main talking points in the Copa de la Liga Profesional, including Godoy Cruz's return to their own stadium and a woeful – but controversial – clásico de Avellaneda.

In this week(end)'s HOP Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi look back on the last couple of weeks of Copa de la Superliga action, including the superclásico of two weeks ago and two matches which saw the winning team hit six goals.

In this week's HOP Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi look back on two more weeks of Copa de la Liga Profesional action which have seen Colón and Estudiantes – who meet on Saturday – continue to impress, with Aldosivi and Central Córdoba (who are playing each other in Mar Del Plata as this episode is uploaded on Friday evening) also intriguing us early on. The big headline-grabber this weekend is the superclásico in the Bombonera, as we eventually remember, so we have a bit of a preview of that too.

On this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, Tony and Santi look back on the first two weeks' action in the Copa de la Liga Profesional and three poor showings from Argentina in the SheBelieves Cup, as well as looking forward to the Copa América, which apparently is going to be played this year and may or may not be the first Copa América since 1991 to feature only CONMEBOL member nations.

There's sad news this week, as we kick things off with talk of Godoy Cruz striker Santiago García, who died by suicide at the weekend. Afterwards, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony preview the Copa de la Liga 2021, which was changed to a cup competition rather than a league championship shortly after we recorded HOP392. We look at the summer transfer activity (such as it's been) of the Big Five and some others, explain the structure of the competition and more.

In this week's HOP, Sam, English Dan, Tony and Santi review three finals – the the Copa Diego Maradona, in which Boca Juniors beat Banfield on spot kicks, the women's championship final, in which Boca thrashed River Plate 7-0, and the Copa Sudamericana final, in which Defensa y Justicia claimed their first major trophy (and Hernán Crespo's first as a manager) by beating Lanús 3-0 in Córdoba. We also look at Vélez Sarsfield's 3-1 win over Rosario Central in the participation final of the Copa Maradona, which sets up a playoff against Banfield on Wednesday for a spot in next year's Copa Sudamericana.

This week, Sam is joined by English Dan, Tony and Andrés to look forward to Sunday evening's Copa Diego Armando Maradona final between Boca Juniors and Banfield (and at how they got there) and to review Boca's and River Plate's eliminations from the Copa Libertadores.

Happy new year! In this week's HOP Sam is joined by English Dan and Santi for a quick roundup of the most relevant action in the Copa Diego Maradona over the Christmas and new year period (including a very entertaining 2-2 draw between Boca Juniors and River Plate), and a look back on the first legs of the Copa Libertadores semi-finals, which saw River get humped by Palmeiras and Boca involved in a cagey draw at home to Santos (since we recorded it's been reported that Santos goalkeeper John was positive for COVID-19 during the match).

This week's HOP is our last episode of 2020, but Argentine football isn't quite done yet – unusually, matches continue throughout the summer in the Copa Diego Armando Maradona, Copa Sudamericana and Copa Libertadores. Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés look back on the action since we last recorded and set the scene for what's to come. We'll be back in the new year to update you on what's transpired between now and then, but our Patreon supporters will be getting short updates from Sam every week during our break – if you'd like to join them (or to give someone a subscription for Christmas?) get on over to www.patreon.com/handofpod/. See you in the new year!

Alejandro Sabella, who managed Argentina to the final of the 2014 World Cup, died on Tuesday. In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, Santi, Tony, English Dan and Andrés begin by looking back on his life in football, before reviewing the action over the last week in the various Copas – Diego Maradona, Libertadores and Sudamericana – that Argentine sides are involved in at present.

After the emotion of last week, this week Sam, Tony, Santi and Andrés return to Earth with a look at what's gone on in the Copa Diego Armando Maradona, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and women's top flight since we last recorded.

If you're listening to this podcast in the week it comes out, you know what it's about. On Wednesday 25th November 2020, Diego Maradona died. In this week's HOP Sam, English Dan, Santi, Tony, Andrés and Seba put aside talk about recent matches for an extended talk about the life, career and impact of a player who captured the popular imagination like few – if any – others both at home and around the world. Diego Maradona, QEPD.

In this week's HOP, Sam, English Dan, Santi, Andrés and (for the first few minutes, before he gets cut off) Tony look back on a World Cup qualifying double header which again saw Argentina look a bit iffy at home but impress away, before reviewing the latest round of Copa de la Liga Profesional de Fútbol action.

At the end of this week, HOP turns ten years old, and we're celebrating with a bumper episode. Sam, English Dan, Tony, Andrés and Santi review the recent action from the Copa Sudamericana and Copa de la Liga Profesional de Fútbol, consider the thorny issue of how clubs should deal with players awaiting trial in a country with a legal system which moves as slowly as Argentina's and bid farewell to Fernando Gago, who announced his retirement shortly before we recorded. We also look forward to Argentina's upcoming World Cup qualifying double header and look back on our favourite memories of Argentine football (and the podcast) over the last decade.

It's been a long, long lockdown here in Buenos Aires, but last weekend Argentine domestic football finally returned, and in this week's episode Sam, English Dan, Tony, Andrés and Santi look back on the first weekend of the Copa de la Liga Profesional de Fútbol, a mini-tournament for the top flight clubs which will keep us entertained (after a fashion) for the next couple of months. We also discuss the Copa Sudamericana and the national team.

No recording last week means Sam, English Dan, Tony, Andrés and Santi have two weeks of action to catch up on in this week's HOP. We look back on Argentina's first two matches in the men's World Cup qualifiers and also review the last round of Copa Libertadores group action and the draw for the knockout stage, as well as looking at the Copa Sudamericana draw. And there's a bit of news about the upcoming Copa de la Liga Profesional, which kicks off at the end of next week.

The 2022 World Cup qualifiers are finally upon us, and in this week's HOP Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Tony and Peter preview Argentina's opening double header at home to Ecuador and away to Bolivia. Prior to doing that, we look back on last week's Copa Libertadores games.

This week on Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Tony, Andrés and Santi look back on the first two post-lockdown rounds of Copa Libertadores matches, which went better than expected for Argentine clubs. We also run the rule over Lionel Scaloni's Argentina squad announcement, and give you the latest news on the likelihood of domestic football returning to Argentina this year. No idea what's going on with Sam's voice in this one, by the way.

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.

In this week's HOP, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi discuss CONMEBOL's recent strongarming of the AFA – and, perhaps, the Argentine government – into opening football in Argentina before they wanted to, with the rather sudden announcement that the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana will be kicking off again later in the year.

HOP is back! This week, Sam, Tony and English Dan give you an update on the discussions that have been had in Argentine football – and what's happened quarantine-wise in Argentina as a whole – in the two months and a bit since we last recorded. We also answer a couple of listeners' questions. The plan now is to record about once every two weeks until football returns, but we're not really any the wiser yet about when that will be.

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.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Tony look back on the drama of Boca Juniors' title win, as the Xeneize pipped River Plate on the last day to win their third Argentine championship in four seasons. We also looked at the other drama from the weekend just gone ... which was almost none, because continental spots and relegation won't be decided until the end of the Copa Superliga group stage (if indeed that goes the distance). We also discuss the current situation regarding next season's league system for the top flight.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi look back on a weekend which saw Santi very frustrated by Independiente (again), and which saw Boca Juniors win and River Plate draw, meaning River enter the final weekend of Superliga action just a point clear at the top. Will Boca get the combination of a win and a bad result for River they need to claim the title? We'll find out on Saturday night.

On this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Tony and Santi look at a weekend of action which saw the title race officially whittled down to the country's two biggest clubs, with River Plate still enjoying a three-point advantage over Boca Juniors with two matches remaining. Boca visit relegation strugglers Colón on Friday night, while River host Defensa y Justicia on Saturday.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, sponsored by albicelestes.com, Sam, English Dan, Tony and Andrés are joined by a new panel member, Santi, to discuss a weekend which saw both of the frontrunners for the title win their matches, meaning that River Plate's lead ahead of Boca Juniors at the top of the table remains at three points, now with just three matches to go. We discuss last weekend's matches, the title run-in and much more, including a lot of listener questions.

In this week's HOP, Sam, Tony and Andrés discuss a weekend which saw a dramatic clásico de Avellaneda, and witnessed the title race, so tight just a couple of weeks ago, begin to open up as the main contenders enter the home straight. Below those top spots, though, the race for the remaining Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana qualification places is still ridiculously tight. We've also got a Primera Femenina round-up, and plenty more.

On this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony look back on a weekend of action which saw River Plate maintain their three-point lead at the top of the table, while Boca Juniors took advantage of Argentinos Juniors' slip-up to go second. The Primera Femenina restarts this coming weekend so we give you an update on that, and there's lots more besides.

This week's Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés, English Dan and Julian review the seventeenth round of Superliga action, which was the first of the new year. Julian runs the rule over Boca Juniors' summer, Andrés enjoyed a nervy but satisfying win for River in Mendoza (just for a change) and there was frustration for Dan's Racing under new boss Sebastián Beccacece.

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.

In the final episode of 2019, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony look back on the last few games of the year, which tidied up a couple of the Superliga matches postponed from earlier rounds, and decided a couple of trophies of varying importance.

In the penultimate HOP of 2019, Sam, English Dan, Tony and Andrés review a round of Superliga action – the last before the summer break – in which most of the title hopefuls dropped points, not for the first time.

Hand Of Pod is back after Sam's holiday, and in this week's episode, English Dan, Andrés and Tony fill him in on what's been happening while he was away, including a review of River Plate's late collapse in the Copa Libertadores final, why Diego Maradona resigned and then unresigned as Gimnasia manager, and the main talking points ahead of Boca Juniors' presidential election on Sunday.

This Saturday, the first ever single-match final of South America's biggest club competition will be played, as holders River Plate take on Brazilian giants Flamengo in Lima's Estadio Monumental. In this week's Hand Of Pod – recorded last Thursday, because Sam is away on holiday – Sam and Andrés take you through both sides' route to the final, and consider what might happen on Saturday afternoon.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend of Superliga action which saw all of the top four drop points (Boca Juniors were the only ones to even draw), ensuring a tight title race has got even tighter due to wins for a few of the chasing pack. We also consider the Copa Argentina semi-finals, one of which was played during and one of which was played after this recording (the final will pit Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero against River Plate), and look forward to Friday's friendly between Argentina and Brazil, which is being played as I upload this episode.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Tony are again joined by special guests Phil and Jamie to discuss a weekend in which victories for River Plate, Boca Juniors and Lanús combined with a draw for Argentinos Juniors to leave four teams separated by just a point at the top of the table. As well as this, Colón take on Independiente Del Valle in the Copa Sudamericana final on Saturday, and on that same day Estudiantes open their new stadium – although with a party rather than a match, because they host Talleres in the municipal stadium on Friday night.

This week in the Hand Of Pod studio, Sam, English Dan and Andrés are joined by two very special guests: Phil Carney, who runs the Lanús in English Twitter account, and Jamie Ralph, who runs the Newell's in English account, are both visiting Argentina for a couple of weeks, and came in to say hello. With them, we review a midweek round of Superliga action which saw Argentinos Juniors go clear at the top of the table, and River Plate go third – with Lanús, whose win over Boca Juniors was watched by Phil, and helped both of those clubs to climb the table, sitting between them. Jamie's first trip to the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa didn't go quite as well: Newell's were tonked by Diego Maradona's Gimnasia, who might be allowing themselves to dream of survival after all ...

On this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on the Copa Libertadores semi-final second legs, reviewing River Plate's progression in spite of defeat against Boca Juniors and Flamengo's crushing win over Grêmio. They ask whether the final will be as one sided as this week's two matches appear to suggest. And Mystic Sam predicts not one but two rounds of the Superliga.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés review Argentina's 6-1 tonking of Ecuador in Elche, and cast their eye over the players who might have won themselves consideration by Lionel Scaloni when more meaningful fixtures come around. We also take a look at the latest Primera Femenina results, and preview next week's Copa Libertadores semi-final second leg between Boca Juniors and River Plate.

The main topic on this week's Hand Of Pod is Argentina's stirring comeback from 2-0 down at half time to draw 2-2 away to Germany in Dortmund, thanks to goals from Lucas Alario and Lucas Ocampos. We also look back on a weekend of Superliga action which saw several more than decent matches, a very surprising result in the Nuevo Gasómetro, and Unión edging the clásico santafesino.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on the Copa Libertadores semi-final first legs, focusing of course on River Plate's convincing 2-0 win over Boca Juniors in the all-Argentine tie, as well as congratulating Colón for reaching their first ever continental final, and reviewing last weekend's Superliga action.

This week on Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back at a weekend which saw Boca Juniors beat San Lorenzo to remain top of the Superliga table and continue their perfect start, and consider some surprising names in the chasing pack. We also preview next week's Copa Libertadores semi-final first leg, when Boca will travel to the Monumental to take on River Plate in another Libertadores superclásico.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a Superliga weekend which saw Diego Maradona begin life as Gimnasia boss with defeat to Racing. A San Lorenzo slip up gave Boca Juniors the chance to go top – which they took – and Huracán bafflingly decided to defend high up the pitch against River Plate, in spite of there now being plentiful evidence to suggest that's absolutely the last thing you should do against them.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on one forgettable and one rather more memorable friendly for Argentina, and consider the positives from both – namely Lautaro Martínez continuing to flourish up front, and that midfield suddenly looking rather more impressive than it did this time last year.

This week on Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a superclásico in which Boca Juniors weren't giving anything away against River Plate, and consider how and why the astonishing news came about – just an hour or so before we started recording – that Diego Maradona has been named manager of Gimnasia La Plata. There's also a bit of national team talk.

In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and English Dan look back on a weekend which included San Lorenzo ending Arsenal's perfect start to go top of the league themselves, and consider Boca Juniors and River Plate's chances of advancing to another superclásico semi-final in the Copa Libertadores. As well as that, we also preview this weekend's superclásico, as River prepare to host Boca in the league on Sunday afternoon.

On this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on a Superliga weekend which brought a historic result in the country's oldest clásico, as well as a third win in a row for newly promoted Arsenal de Sarandí, victory for Boca Juniors in Daniele De Rossi's Bombonera debut, and San Lorenzo continuing to not be boring.

Three hundred and fifty! How did we get this far? In this week's Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on silver for the women and gold for the boys representing Argentina in the Panamerican Games football tournaments, and consider the narrative of Daniele De Rossi scoring on his Boca Juniors debut and then watching from the bench, having been subbed, as his teammates went out of the Copa Argentina in a shootout against Almagro.

This week, Sam and Andrés look back on the second week of action in the 2019–20 Superliga, which saw Arsenal and San Lorenzo both pick up their second wins in as many league games, while River Plate and Boca Juniors also both won, and Independiente aren't too happy with CONMEBOL.

This week, Sam, English Dan and Andrés are joined by a new team member, and review the first round of 2019–20 Superliga action as well as the last sixteen of the Copa Libertadores, which saw River Plate and Boca Juniors advance to the quarter-finals, while Godoy Cruz and San Lorenzo fell by the wayside. And Mystic Sam is back!

In the three hundred and forty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Julian meet to preview the new Superliga season. Which clubs have had the best transfer windows? Which are in most trouble in the relegation battle? These and more questions are answered here. And our sponsors at Fanatiz are back! Head to www.fntz.co/hop and use the discount code hopfz to enjoy the new season wherever you are.

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.

In the three hundred and forty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on Argentina's elimination at the hands of Brazil in the semi-finals of the Copa América, and consider a Copa campaign during which there were (in our opinion) more positives than negatives, in terms of team building.

In the three hundred and forty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan review an improved but still far from perfect Argentina performance to beat Qatar 2-0 and advance to the quarter-finals of the Copa América, where they'll face Venezuela in the Maracanã on Friday. What's going right? What's still going wrong (or looking like it might at any moment)? Step this way to find out.

In the three hundred and forty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on a draw for the women's national team which (combined with results on Thursday) saw them eliminated from the Women's World Cup, and a draw for the men's national team which leaves them still in the Copa América (just) – but there are a lot more positives for the women than for the men.

In the three hundred and forty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss Argentina's fantastic Women's World Cup showing against Japan, where they claimed their first ever point at an official World Cup (and Sam tells you why the word 'official' appears in that sentence), and we look forward to Argentina's clash with England on Friday and, regarding a national team we're less optimistic about (namely the men's one), we preview the Copa América, which kicks off with Brazil v Bolivia on Friday night. Argentina's first game is on Saturday, against Colombia.

In the three hundred and forty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on Tigre's first ever major trophy win, after the Victoria club got their own back on the Argentine top flight by winning the first ever Copa Superliga, and in so doing taking a place in the group stage of next year's Copa Libertadores, by beating Boca Juniors 2-0. We also preview the Women's World Cup and Copa América (a bit), and pick over the bones of Argentina's elimination at the hands of Mali in the U-20 World Cup.

In the three hundred and fortieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss the semi-final seconds legs of the Copa Superliga, and look forward to Sunday's final between Tigre and Boca Juniors. Also, there's a look at the Copa América squad and how the kids are doing in the U-20 World Cup.

In the three hundred and thirty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by English Dan and Andrés to discuss the first legs of the Copa Superliga, which saw Tigre all but book their place in the final ... only for CONMEBOL to bafflingly announce a couple of days later that even if they win the cup, they won't be allowed in to next year's Copa Libertadores. We also have the Copa América final squad to run the rule over, and plenty more besides.

In the three hundred and thirty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss three quarters of the Copa Superliga quarter-finals ... but not three quarters in *that* way; three quarters in the other way. Two of the ties conclude after this episode goes online, so previewing the semi-finals is tricky, but we are able to look at Argentina's preliminary squad lists for the Women's World Cup and the men's Copa América, among other things.

In the three hundred and thirty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on an action-packed weekend of Copa Superliga action which saw River Plate eviscerate Aldosivi, Boca Juniors breeze past Godoy Cruz on a sodden Bombonera pitch, and a hilarious – if distinctly amateur-hour – kit mixup at San Lorenzo v Argentinos Juniors, among plenty more. We also look forward to a weekend which contains the first legs of the quarter-finals and a last-weekend title decider in the women's Primera, as River Plate host UAI Urquiza on the final day knowing one team will emerge from the match as champions.

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.

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.

In the three-hundred-and-thirty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss the first ever weekend of Copa Superliga action, which was ... less than thrilling, it's probably fair to say, although there were a couple of decent matches. We also give you the latest on the women's Primera, and the boys' Under-17 and Under-15 national teams, who've had successes in recent days.

In the three-hundred-and-thirty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on the final weekend of Superliga action of the season, and tie up the loose ends that were left after Racing's title win a week earlier: who won out in the battle to not get relegated? Which teams prevailed in the struggle to qualify for the Copa Sudamericana? Did Atlético Tucumán get the 13-goal swing (plus close the points gap) they needed to qualify for the Libertadores ahead of River Plate? There's only one way to find out, and it's by listening to this episode! Well, okay, you could check a large number of websites or apps, I suppose. But please listen.

In the three-hundred-and-thirty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a weekend of Superliga action which saw Racing crowned champions of Argentina in spite of late goals for both Tigre and Defensa y Justicia. They also look at what's left in the final weekend of the campaign coming up: the relegation battle, the race to finish in the Copa Sudamericana spots, and whether Boca Junors can leapfrog Defensa to claim second place.

In the three-hundred-and-thirty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and English Dan look back on two woeful friendly performances by Lionel Scaloni's Argentina – a second-ever defeat to Venezuela and a narrow win over Morocco – which did absolutely nothing to breed optimism ahead of the Copa América. We also preview the last two weeks of the Superliga season, with the title run-in and the Copa Sudamericana qualification battle taking centre stage.

In the three hundred and thirtieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and English Dan meet to discuss a weekend of Superliga action which saw the title race and relegation battle become abruptly less tense with two games to go – although the only thing confirmed so far is San Martín de Tucumán's relegation – and to preview the international friendlies of the next few days, which see Lionel Messi return as Argentina face Venezuela and Morocco.

In episode three hundred and twenty-nine of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss the title and relegation battles in the Superliga, which have both tightened up considerably with three matches to go, and look at the interesting decision by CONMEBOL to award hosting of the 2020 Copa América (yes, there will be a 2020 Copa América) to Argentina and Colombia.

The three-hundred-and-twenty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and English Dan to review a weekend on which the gap at the top remained at three points, with Racing and Defensa y Justicia the only realistic title hopefuls (and likely to be the only ones with even a mathematical chance by the end of the coming round). We also look back on Tuesday's Copa Libertadores matches involving Argentine sides, and consider Lionel Scaloni's Argentina squad – which was named after the pod was recorded, but which as expected marks the return of Lionel Messi to international football.

In three hundred and twenty seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Andy Jacobs of TalkSPORT's Hawksbee and Jacobs to discuss a weekend which saw Racing pull three points clear at the top of the Superliga thanks to a 3-1 victory away to Independiente in the clásico de Avellaneda and Defensa's defeat the following day to Boca Juniors in spite of dominating the match – which is becoming a familiar story.

In the three hundred and twenty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss an interesting weekend of action which saw Tigre win their first game under Néstor Gorosito, and victories for both of the top two (Racing and Defensa y Justicia), who remain neck and neck with six games to go and that tantalising clash between them in the Cilindro on the final weekend. River were held and Boca Juniors won and then lost, and we announce the lucky winner of the six-month free Fanatiz subscription prize draw.

In the three hundred and twenty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés, Tony and English Dan have some exciting news: HOP is now sponsored by Fanatiz, and as well offering HOP listener 20% off their first three months with the code 'hopfz' if you go to www.fntz.co/hop, they're also giving you the chance to win a six-month subscription entirely free! One lucky listener will win the prize, but you'll have to listen to the episode to find out how. We look back on a weekend which saw River beat Racing with a stonking Juanfer Quintero free kick, allowing Defensa y Justicia's 95th-minute winner over Argentinos Juniors to send them joint top. We also look at Argentina's overall Sudamericano Sub 20 performance, and answer some listeners' questions.

The three hundred and twenty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan, Andrés and Tony to discuss a low-scoring weekend of Superliga action in which the title race remained much the same (Racing and Defensa y Justicia both won), Saturday was about as exciting as we told you last week it was going to be, and Patronato got their second win in a row (and fourth of the season). We also discuss Argentina's Sudamericano Sub 20 performances, and answer listeners' questions.

In the three hundred and twenty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Andrés are joined by Jon Arnold, who tells us a bit about his impressions of football in Argentina and Uruguay during his holiday. We discuss the first full weekend of Superliga action in 2019, which saw Racing maintain their three-point lead over Defensa y Justicia at the top, and River lose yet again. And we have a few words on new Newcastle United record signing Miguel Almirón, who we saw during his time at Lanús and who Jon has been enjoying for the last two years in MLS.

The three hundred and twenty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan, Andrés and Tony to look back on the first two Superliga matches of 2019, as River Plate lost at home to Defensa y Justicia and ten-man San Lorenzo ground out a 0-0 draw at home to Huracán. We have a few words on Emiliano Sala after the news that his aircraft disappeared on Monday night, and discuss a developing disagreement between clubs, league and players in the Argentine women's game which has seen appeals to make women's football in Argentina professional.

There's not much actual football to discuss on this week's Hand Of Pod, but episode 321 sees Sam, Andrés and Tony run the rule over Marcelo Bielsa's hilarious/heinous (delete as you see fit) headline-grabbing in the English Championship, as well as a bit more transfer talk with Boca Juniors captain Pablo Pérez on his way to Independiente.

Hand Of Pod is back for 2019, and in episode 320 Sam is joined by English Dan, Andrés, Tony and Mariano to review ... well, no football at all, obviously. But we do have talk of some of the early moves in the transfer window, including the shocking news of Luis Rodríguez's move from Atlético Tucumán to Colón (Colón!), as well as discussion of the possibility of Lionel Messi returning for Argentina, and a look at Argentina's squad for the upcoming Sudamericano Sub 20.

In the final HOP episode of 2018, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony look back on River Plate's Club World Cup semi-final failure, before taking a look at what lies ahead for River and defeated Copa Libertadores finalists Boca Juniors in the summer break. We also discuss the 2019 Copa Libertadores group stage draw, and the first round of the Copa Sudamericana. Merry Christmas or the holiday greeting of your choice to all our listeners, and we'll see you again in 2019!

In the three hundred and eighteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Tony, Andrés and English Dan meet to review what turned out – for all the controversy and sadness surrounding the match – to be an entertaining Copa Libertadores final second leg, which culminated in River Plate being crowned champions of South America for the fourth time after beating Boca Juniors in extra time. We also review the final weekend of Superliga action of 2018, which sees Racing very much in the driving seat as the teams head into the summer break.

In the three hundred and seventeenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss a weekend of action which saw a five-goal thriller in the Tucumán clásico that helped Racing open up a five-point lead at the top of the Superliga going into the last weekend before the summer break. We also preview the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final between River Plate and Boca Juniors – again ...

It's not often HOP gets to talk about genuinely the biggest story in world sport of the last week. In HOP316, Sam, Andrés and podcast newcomer Chris take you through the timeline, fallout, mistakes and conspiracy theories surrounding the postponement of the Copa Libertadores final second leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors. We also talk a bit about the Argentine Superliga, to lighten the mood.

Well, this is quite a way to return from our month-and-a-half-long hiatus. On Saturday, River Plate will host Boca Juniors in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final; the biggest match in the history of Argentine – and probably South American – club football history. In episode 315 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan look back on the semis and the first leg of the final, before previewing the superclásico to end all superclásicos.

The three hundred and fourteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Tony to discuss a weekend on which there was less football than normal, due to a rainstorm which resulted in only one match being played on Saturday. Racing won that game to extend their Superliga lead (pending Atlético Tucumán's game in hand), while Boca returned to winning ways and River's reserves tonked Lanús, before beating Independiente 3-1 on Tuesday to qualify for the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores. We also have a look at Lionel Scaloni's latest Argentina squad. HOP will be a little less frequent for the next few weeks, because Sam is going on holiday, but we'll still have occasional episodes, and normal service will be resumed towards the end of November.

In episode three hundred and thirteen of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and English Dan to discuss River Plate's 2-0 win over Boca Juniors in Sunday's superclásico, as well as yet another win for Racing, who remain top of the league, and more success for Aldosivi, who are enjoying a fine start to life back in the top flight.

The three hundred and twelfth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Tony come together for a bumper episode, discussing the role of the VAR and all the others ins and outs of the first legs of the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals (the three involving Argentine clubs, anyway), and previewing Sunday's titanic clash in the Bombonera between Boca Juniors and River Plate.

In the three hundred and eleventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés give a quick roundup of the Copa Argentina, before taking a deep dive into the lukewarm pool of the national team, whose two clean sheets against Guatemala and Colombia – with two different goalkeepers! – were arguably the brightest thing about their first two games under caretaker manager Lionel Scaloni.

The three hundred and tenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés meet to discuss the action from the fourth round of Superliga 2018–19 action, which saw Racing leapfrog Rosario Central into the top spot by beating their visitors 2-0 in Avellaneda. River Plate and San Lorenzo drew yet again (with each other), Boca Juniors got back to winning ways, and Tigre once again scored two goals, but managed not to concede any this time. All this, and we've a preview of Argentina's two upcoming friendlies against Guatemala and Colombia, as the national team begins a delicate rebuilding process after the trauma of the World Cup.

The three hundred and ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discussing a chaotic week of Copa Libertadores administration which saw much-publicised disciplinary decisions regarding River Plate's Bruno Zuculini and Santos' Carlos Sánchez in their ties against Racing and Independiente, respectively. As well as this, we've a roundup of the third round of Superliga action, which saw Rosario Central maintain their 100% record, and a number of belting goals.

The three hundred and eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss a weekend of Superliga action in which River Plate flattered to deceive, Boca Juniors lost and thus ended a long run of being top or joint top, and Edgardo Bauza's Rosario Central got another 1-0 win thanks to a headed goal.

The three hundred and seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés look back on a Superliga opening round that was notable for three teams only drawing after going 2-0 up, and not an awful lot else apart from Huracán's atrocious pitch. There's some Copa Libertadores action to review as well, and we also tackle some of the likely names in Lionel Scaloni's Argentina squad, which was announced about 14 hours after we finished recording.

In the three hundred and sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés preview the 2018–19 Superliga season, which kicks off on Friday evening, and also have a look at the Copa Libertadores round of sixteen, which began on Tuesday evening with Estudiantes' surprise win over defending champions Grêmio.

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.

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.

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 and go over the main transfer business of the window so far.

The inevitable has happened: Argentina are out of the 2018 World Cup after a 4-3 defeat to France in the second round. In the three hundred and second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and English Dan to pick over the bones of the defeat, and of the chaotic campaign that led to it. Listeners' questions cover what the next steps should be, who might come into the team in the next few years, whether Jorge Sampaoli should remain as manager, and much more besides.

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.

The three hundredth episode of Hand Of Pod is a less celebratory affair than we'd hoped for such a landmark, with Sam and English Dan picking over the bones of Argentina's second half catastrophe against Croatia, which leaves them needing to beat Nigeria – possibly comfortably – on Tuesday if they're going to advance. We ask what needs to change, when these problems first took root. Thanks to all our listeners for sticking with us through 300 episodes. We hope you continue to enjoy the show!

The two hundred and ninety-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan and Andrés to look back on a faltering start to the World Cup group stage for Argentina, who drew 1-1 with Iceland on Saturday. What changes is Jorge Sampaoli making? What changes should he make? And how much scope for improvement is there, really? Perhaps foolishly, we're remaining optimistic about the Croatia game, which we'll review in HOP300 on Friday.

In the two hundred and ninety-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés are joined by Helgi, one of (as far as he knows) three Icelanders currently living in Buenos Aires. We preview Argentina's World Cup opener on Saturday with a look at what appears to be Jorge Sampaoli's all-but-confirmed starting XI, as well as asking Helgi how it feels to be experiencing his first World Cup with his own team to cheer for, and his impressions of how the Argentine press have been covering Iceland (and he's got a few impressions, because they've mostly been doing it by interviewing him).

In the two hundred and ninety-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés take you through the last week in Argentina's World Cup preparations, which has included the cancellation of Saturday's planned friendly away to Israel after the Argentine FA realised it wasn't an idea absolutely everyone was completely delighted with. Elsewhere, the B Nacional playoff final ended with San Martín de Tucumán putting in an improved second leg showing to tear Sarmiento apart and win promotion to the Superliga, and we go through the other results so far from the lower divisions, as well as a restructuring of next season's B Nacional.

In the two hundred and ninety-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss Argentina's pre-World Cup friendly victory over Haiti in the Bombonera. Did we learn anything, or merely have various things confirmed which we already knew? Should Cristian Pavón start ahead of Ángel Di María? Who is the first choice goalkeeper? And is there really any point in playing friendlies against sides who (with the greatest respect to Haiti) aren't at the level Argentina will be facing in Russia?

The two hundred and ninety-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Julián to discuss Argentina's 23-man World Cup squad, and the chaos introduced to it by Tuesday's news that first-choice goalkeeper Sergio Romero would miss the tournament with injury. Should Willy Caballero or Franco Armani be Romero's replacement? In the outfield positions, are there any players missing who should be there, or any who are there who shouldn't be? And what should we make of Jorge Sampaoli's stated desire to play a 2-3-3-2 if possible? Which players would that involve – both for Sampaoli, and if one of us were the manager? All these questions and far more are up for discussion.

The two hundred and ninety-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan and Andrés to discuss the final weekend of Superliga 2017–18 action, in which there were a few high-scoring games, a few surprising results (including Independiente, Talleres and Racing falling over one another in their rush to not qualify for the Copa Libertadores)and a tight finish all round for the Copa places. We also have a look at a bad week for gender relations at the AFA and for TyCSports' publicity department.

It was fitting, given the way the season has gone, that Boca Juniors sealed their second consecutive league title with a draw in which they almost seemed to be trying to let the point slip away from them at times. In the two hundred and ninety-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and Mariano to discuss Boca's title, why none of the chasing pack (not least San Lorenzo) had the wherewithal to make it into a proper title race, and all the ups and downs of the penultimate weekend of Superliga action, as well as looking forward to the final round of games.

In the two hundred and ninety-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss the silliness of the conspiracy theories surrounding why Gimnasia v Boca Juniors was called off on Sunday (some fans seem to think Daniel Angelici controls the weather), and we look back at a Superliga weekend which saw Godoy Cruz keep up their slim title hopes with a clásico victory, and a five goal thriller (of sorts) in Parque Patricios among other matches.

In the two hundred and ninety-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Julián get together over a mate and some biscuits to discuss a weekend of Superliga action in which Boca Juniors saw the title race swing decisively their way (surely this time, this is it?) after Godoy Cruz were held by Banfield. Elsewhere, River Plate are now so good that even their reserves can win at a canter ... although it was only against Arsenal de Sarandí, so maybe not. Racing won the clásico coudetense, Defensa y Justicia shocked Independiente in the clásico holandés (I wish I'd thought that name up to tweet during the match) and the race for the last Copa Libertadores spots, and all of the Copa Sudamericana spots, is as tight as ever. Oh, and we're now finally live on Patreon! Please check out our page and consider supporting us: www.patreon.com/handofpod

The two hundred and ninetieth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Peter and Andrés to look back on a weekend of Superliga action in which the remaining three relegation spots were all decided, and the title race one last breath of life given to it thanks to Godoy Cruz's sixth consecutive win and Boca Juniors' second consecutive defeat. River Plate's efficient form continues, and we look at why Vélez Sarsfield have become so much harder to beat under Gabriel Heinze, even though they're still winning barely any matches.

The two hundred and eighty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés meet to discuss a weekend of action in the Superliga which saw Boca Juniors' defeat to Defensa y Justicia on Saturday throw the door wide open for Talleres and San Lorenzo ... and Talleres and San Lorenzo both fail completely to take advantage. There's a new second place team thanks to Godoy Cruz tonking San Lorenzo 5-0 on Sunday, but they're still seven points behind the leaders and there are now just five games remaining. Elsewhere, River Plate kept up their great run of domestic form with a 2-0 away win over Racing that was clinical if not spectacular, and Chacarita Juniors aren't dead yet – have a listen to find out why Sam reckons there's an AFA conspiracy to keep them in the Superliga (well, not really. But if they win again this weekend with some iffy refereeing, then maybe).

The two hundred and eighty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés meet to discuss a weekend of Superliga action which saw the title race all but ended by Pablo Pérez's 92nd minute winner for Boca Juniors against second placed Talleres. Why did he argue with Boca's fans immediately afterwards? Why didn't Carlos Tevez play that game? These are among the questions we answer. Elsewhere, River Plate's resurgence continues - the giants are now just two points off the Copa Sudamericana places, a situation that would have seemed unthinkable a few weeks ago. And we bid farewell, for the moment at least, to Arsenal de Sarandí's participation in the top flight of Argentine football; they were relegated after Patronato's 3-0 win against Rosario Central on Sunday.

Welcome to a special free preview of Hand Of Pod Extra. HOP Extra will be a weekly mini podcast available to supporters who put in enough to reach the appropriate reward tier on our upcoming Patreon page (which is not yet live). Sam will record a short bit each Sunday evening summarising the main talking points of the weekend. We wanted to give you an idea before launching the Patreon of what this extra episode would sound like, so enjoy!

The two hundred and eighty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded on Tuesday evening, after the friendly which dominates this episode: Argentina's record-equalling 6-1 defeat to Spain in Madrid. How much does Jorge Sampaoli need to change ahead of the World Cup? Is the situation salvageable from here? Is there any hope at all without Lionel Messi? Sam and English Dan consider the fallout. We also explain what's going on with a court case involving Independiente, where a youth prostitution ring has been uncovered operating out of the club's accommodation (without, we hasten to add, the club's knowledge).

The two hundred and eighty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan and Andrés to look back on a weekend of Superliga action which saw the gap at the top close to six points after Boca Junior could only draw following Talleres' victory. That sets things up nicely for the resumption of hostilities after the international break, when Talleres visit Boca. Elsewhere, Racing thrashed Patronato and River Plate, fresh from their Supercopa win, deservedly beat Belgrano 3-1, with Nacho Scocco coming off the bench to score twice. Should he still be a sub? Finally, we discuss the Argentine national team, and how Jorge Sampaoli will be approaching their two upcoming friendlies.

The two hundred and eighty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés look back over a weekend of Superliga action that, erm, neither of them managed to catch an awful lot of. Among the bits they did see were last minute wins for Boca Juniors and River Plate, and an entertaining game between Independiente and Argentinos Juniors which saw El Rojo cement third place in the Superliga. There's also discussion of Wednesday night's Supercopa Argentina, which saw River turn in their best performance of the last six months or so to spring a surprise, beating Boca 2-0 to lift the trophy. The prize itself isn't of huge importance, of course, but the repercussions for both clubs' seasons could be - most notably, could this be the springboard for a revival in River's fortunes?

The two hundred and eighty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss a weekend of Superliga action which was full of surprise results: from Arsenal de Sarandí winning a game against, well, anybody on Friday evening, to Argentinos Juniors playing Boca Juniors off the park and claiming a 2-0 victory over the league leaders on Monday night. One shock result that didn't happen was a win for River Plate, who have a potentially huge couple of games coming up. Racing, meanwhile, might be paying Jorge Sampaoli to come and watch them these days ... and speaking of Sampaoli, we have some thoughts on his latest Argentina squad.

Episode 283 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss a weekend of Superliga action in which San Lorenzo lost away to Gimnasia, thus falling even further behind league leaders Boca Juniors, who rediscovered their attacking form in an entertaining 4-2 win over San Martín. San Lorenzo also ceded second place to Talleres. River Plate are still abysmal, and lost 1-0 away to Vélez Sarsfield in a dreadful match, while Racing managed two impressive wins: first becoming the first team this league season not to lose to Godoy Cruz in Mendoza, and then beating Cruzeiro 4-2 in the Copa Libertadores on Tuesday night. All this and more.

Episode 282 of Hand Of Pod comes to you a little later than normal this week, but Sam and Andrés are here to talk you through last weekend's Superliga action ahead of the next round of games. Boca Juniors found it hard going for the second week running, but once again came through for a 1-0 win which keeps them at arm's length (or perhaps two arms' lengths) from the chasing pack, while there were plenty of goals elsewhere. River Plate's attack improved a bit, but their defence still left a lot to be desired in a 2-2 draw against Godoy Cruz; Rosario Central's youngsters, meanwhile, announced themselves with some fanfare as Andrés Lioi hit a hat trick in their 5-0 tonking of Olimpo. On Wednesday night, Independiente suffered the disappointment of a shootout defeat to Grêmio in the Recopa Sudamericana.

Episode 281 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend of action which saw Talleres leapfrog San Lorenzo to go second - albeit having played a game more - and Boca Juniors maintain the distance at the top of the Superliga with a nervy win over Temperley. There were a couple of high-scoring games to look back on as well, and Sebastián Ribas' red-hot scoring form continued with another goal for Patronato.

Episode 280 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss an entertaining round of Superliga action which saw the gap at the top remain at six points, thanks to second place San Lorenzo's 1-1 draw with league leaders Boca Juniors. Talleres went third with a fortuitous win over Temperley, and we also look at headline-grabbing solo performances for River Plate and Racing - namely Ignacio Scocco's brace, including a spectacular second, for River, and Lautaro Martínez's first senior hat trick for Racing.

Episode 279 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés meet to discuss the opening weekend of football in Argentina in 2018, which included a Talleres win over San Lorenzo, giving Boca Juniors the chance to open a six-point gap at the top of the Superliga table - a chance the champions took in beating Colón. River Plate lost away to Huracán and, more worryingly, showed no signs of having adapted their gameplan over the summer break. Unión continue their fine form of 2017, and are now third, while Gabriel Heinze's spell at Vélez Sarsfield got off to a good start with a 1-0 away win over Defensa y Justicia. Newell's Old Boys almost suffered the indignity of dropping points to Arsenal de Sarandí, but were bailed out at the last minute.

Hand Of Pod returns for 2018, with a new logo and exciting plans for the new year. Sam and Andrés are your hosts for episode 278, in which we look back over a transfer window that was mostly uneventful but all the same takes an age to summarise, because as we might have mentioned before there are too many clubs in the Argentine top flight. Lucas Pratto became the Millonarios' most expensive signing ever, Carlos Tevez is back at Boca Juniors, and how have Independiente opted to replace Atlanta-bound Ezequiel Barco? All these questions and more are up for discussion. It's good to be back!

The final episode of Hand Of Pod in 2017 brings together Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Peter to discuss Independiente's entertaining run to the Copa Sudamericana title, after they beat Flamengo 4-2 on aggregate in an enthralling final which saw its second leg in the Maracanã on Wednesday night. Why they deserved the title, and how Ariel Holan has turned the team around are among the topics for discussion. Will Holan stay? How good is Ezequiel Barco? These questions are also considered. We also have a look at the Superliga weekend which saw Rosario Central beat Newell's Old Boys in the clásico rosarino, and Boca Juniors claim a win which ensures they end 2017 top of the league. Oh, and River Plate won the Copa Argentina! It's a lot to cover, and this is an extended episode as a result. Enjoy.

The two hundred and seventy-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Andrés join Sam to look back on a weekend of Superliga action which saw yet another disappointing showing from River Plate, while Atlético Tucumán got an encouraging win ahead of their trip to Mendoza to play River in the Copa Argentina final on Saturday. Boca Juniors got back to winning way to keep their noses in front of San Lorenzo in the title race, and Defensa y Justicia won a five-goal thriller against Godoy Cruz. As well as all this, we've another continental final to look forward to, with Independiente preparing to take on Flamengo in the Copa Sudamericana showpiece, whose first leg is in Avellaneda on Wednesday night.

The two hundred and seventy-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan joined by a very special guest, because Phil Carney - author of the Lanús in English Twitter account - has flown down to Buenos Aires all the way from Manchester for a few days. Unfortunately his first visit to the city wasn't enough to help Lanús to their first Copa Libertadores title, as they were totally outplayed by Grêmio in Wednesday night's final second leg; we review that match, and Lanús' run in the tournament, as well as last weekend's Superliga matches. A second straight defeat for Boca Juniors and a good run for San Lorenzo means we have a title race, all of a sudden (they're now tied on points, though Boca have a game in hand, after San Lorenzo wrapped up a victory shortly after we finished recording). And there's praise for Independiente, who not only beat Racing in the clásico with a reserve team but also advanced to the Copa Sudamericana final in a thrilling second leg on Tuesday night.

The two hundred and seventy-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Andrés and Sam discuss a weekend of Superliga action which saw Boca Juniors lose for the first time in the league this season, thanks to probably Racing's best performance so far - and which brought more bad news for Boca late on with an injury to Darío Benedetto which will probably keep him out until the end of the season. River Plate also lost the weekend, but finally won on Wednesday to end a run of six league games without a victory, while San Lorenzo went second and Independiente and Lanús both started continental ties this week: Independiente in the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals, and Lanús in the Copa Libertadores final. Both lost 1-0, but it's all still to play for ...

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.

In the two hundred and seventy-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss a dark week for River Plate, as elimination at the hands of Lanús in the Copa Libertadores last week was followed by defeat in an entertaining superclásico against Boca Juniors on Sunday. That win meant Boca still have a 100% record and are now seven points clear at the top of the Superliga table, with Unión in second place. As well as league talk, we also look at the main issues Jorge Sampaoli has to deal with as Argentina prepare to play Russia on Saturday and Nigeria on Tuesday in friendlies.

In episode 271 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan have an afternoon conversation about two big continental ties: the all-Argentine Copa Libertadores semi-final which saw Lanús come back from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat River Plate 4-3 and advance to the first Libertadores final in the club's history, and Racing's Copa Sudamericana exit at the hands of Paraguayan giants Libertad, which it's fair to say was somewhat less thrilling. Independiente should keep the Argentine flag flying (their Copa Sudamericana quarter-final second leg was going to plan as this episode was uploaded), and Boca Juniors extended their lead in the Superliga, winning as River and Lanús (who both fielded reserve sides) both lost; they're now six points clear of second-placed San Lorenzo, ahead of this weekend's visit to River Plate, which we of course preview.

There was no league football in Argentina over the weekend, so episode 270 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and English Dan discussing knockout competitions instead - we have a review of the Copa Argentina quarter-finals, which saw second tier Morón make it to the semi-finals, where they'll play River Plate, and a review of the first leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-final between River and Lanús, as well as a look at the Copa Sudamericana quarter-final first legs so far.

In episode 269 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on (what they saw of) a weekend which saw Boca Juniors move six points clear at the top of the Superliga, keeping their 100% record whilst River Plate were held to a draw for the third match in a row. Boca's ability to dig in, River's carelessness and the relegation battle are among the subjects up for discussion. Listeners' questions cover the Copa Argentina and the national team.

The two hundred and sixty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés discuss Argentina's qualification for the Russia 2018 World Cup, in spite of a 0-0 draw at home to Peru last Thursday and owing rather more to a hat trick from Lionel Messi in Quito which brought a 3-1 win away to Ecuador on Tuesday, in the last match of the campaign. What comes next, what needs to be tweaked, and what should remain the same are all up for discussion.

The two hundred and sixty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod is a look at the Argentine national team as they approach two high-pressure World Cup qualifiers at home to Peru and away to Ecuador, which will either see them finally make it to Russia 2018 or not (all right, or end up in the playoff). Sam and English Dan give their thoughts on the four(!) lineups tried by Jorge Sampaoli in training on Tuesday, and discuss what needs to change from last month's disappointing double header if the selección are to make it over the line at last. We also look at the weekend in the Superliga, where Boca Juniors kept up their 100% record – just – and Arsenal de Sarandí stunned Banfield to record their first points of the season.

The two hundred and sixty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend during which River Plate dropped league points for the first time this season to leave Boca Juniors as the only team with a 100% record after four matches. There were impressive wins for Banfield and Colón, who aren't far behind the top two, and we look at a poor week for Estudiantes and San Lorenzo, who played one another on Monday evening. There's also a brief look forward to an all-Argentine Copa Libertadores semi-final, after River's thrashing last Thursday of Jorge Wilstermann in their quarter-final second leg, and Lanús' penalty shootout win over San Lorenzo.

The two hundred and sixty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss a weekend of league action in which River Plate and champions Boca Juniors continue to be the two teams to beat in the Superliga, even as River slumped last week to first leg defeat in the Copa Libertadores away to Jorge Wilstermann of Bolivia. There's also talk of Jorge Sampaoli's latest national team list (call-ups have gone out to players based abroad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Ecuador), and a change of venue for the Peru match to La Bombonera. As well as all this, Independiente's Alexis Zárate (currently on loan at Temperley, perhaps not for much longer) has been found guilty of rape, and there's some discussion of that verdict and the media reaction in Argentina.

In the two hundred and sixty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Andrés are joined by Julián for his second appearance, around two and a half years after his first. We look back on a second weekend of Superliga action which saw wins for River and Boca, a 4-1 tonking of Temperley by Racing, and - shock, horror - a goalless draw between Rosario Central and San Lorenzo. Last week's national team talk has sparked something of a discussion among our Twitter followers, so we address that in the second half, along with a look at why the national team are moving to La Bombonera for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Peru.

Hand Of Pod returns from an extended winter break, and in episode 263 Sam is joined by English Dan and Andrés to run the rule over Argentina's latest two disappointing World Cup qualifying performances. What went wrong against Uruguay and Venezuela? Is the problem solely tactical or are there, in fact, not really any of the right options even available for selection in the midfield? These are just two of the question we ask. In the second half, we take a very brief look at how the Superliga season began two weeks ago, in an opening round Sam didn't see and which Andrés and Dan have mostly forgotten. Don't worry, we'll be back up to full speed next week.

The two hundred and sixty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés bid farewell to a memorable 2016-17 season which ended with Boca Juniors crowned champions of Argentina for the thirty-second time, and with Sarmiento, Atlético de Rafaela, Quilmes and Aldosivi being relegated. Sam takes you through the ins and outs of Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana qualification (still pending, because the Copa Argentina final isn't until the end of the year), and we discuss what made Boca worthy champions, what some of the other clubs will be thinking of their seasons, and our players of the season, including Sam's Domestic Argentina Squad, which you'll find on the HOP blogpost accompanying this episode. This is our last episode for a couple of months - we'll be back when Sam returns from his holidays, probably at the start of September.

In the two hundred and sixty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on Jorge Sampaoli's first two matches as Argentina manager, which ended in two victories, seven goals scored and none conceded - although one was a lot closer as a contest than the other. We also cast our eyes forwards towards his competitive debut at the end of August, where they'll be no margin for error. As well as this, we've a title run-in to consider, with this weekend's matches followed almost immediately by a round in midweek; by the time we next record, Boca Juniors could very well be champions.

The two hundred and sixtieth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés looking back over a weekend which saw River Plate lose ground in potentially decisive fashion to Boca Juniors, whose win over Independiente - combined with River's defeat to San Lorenzo - sent them four points clear with just three matches remaining. It was also an interesting weekend for the relegation battle, and we look over the key results there. On Friday, Jorge Sampaoli's reign as Argentina manager begins in earnest with a friendly in Australia against Brazil, and we also preview that.

The two hundred and fifty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss a fine clásico win for Racing against ten-man San Lorenzo and a victory for Talleres over a controversially under-strength Atlético Tucumán. The big stories, though, were dropped points for both Boca Juniors and River Plate, who drew away to Huracán and at home to Rosario Central respectively. Was Huracán's late penalty controversial? (Erm, no.) Should River be kicking themselves? (Perhaps.) And are Arsenal de Sarandí and Sarmiento both going down? (Yes, surely.)

The two hundred and fifty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod comes after a weekend in which the relegation battle became significantly more heated, with most of the sides in or near the drop zone winning (in some cases significantly against expectations). Sam, English Dan and Andrés consider the weekend's key moments, and also look at a title race which is increasingly looking like a straight sprint between leaders Boca Juniors and second placed River Plate. We also have a roundup of all the Copa Libertadores groups, which come to an end this week, and in a HOP first, a head-to-head in this week's mystical predictions!

The two hundred and fifty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés gather to look back on a dramatic weekend of clásico action in which the biggest headline was River Plate putting the title right up for grabs (possibly for themselves) by defeating Boca Juniors 3-1 in La Bombonera in the superclásico. Boca's league lead is three points over San Lorenzo, but would be just a point were River to win their game in hand. San Lorenzo themselves got yet another clásico win against Huracán - because of course they did, come on - and Newell's Old Boys missed the chance to join in the fun at the top, losing 3-1 at home to Rosario Central. The relegation race is hotting up as well, and some Copa Libertadores groups are coming to a conclusion - shortly after we recorded, San Lorenzo secured top spot in Group 4 in highly dramatic circumstances.

pisode 256 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Dan to look back on a weekend during which Newell's Old Boys failed to take advantage of yet more dropped points from league leaders Boca Juniors. More to the point, we're looking forward to a weekend full of clásicos in the Argentine Primera which could see Boca take a huge step towards the title - or, especially if a River Plate win in La Bombonera is combined with a win for Newell's in the Rosario derby, could breath new life into the title race just ahead of the run-in. The first attempt at uploading this episode was met with disaster due to a fault in the file - it was only online for a minute or two so hopefully subscription services won't have picked it up, but if you find the sound on your file cuts out after about 26 minutes, download again from here or our Soundcloud page - the version that's now online is the full show. Sorry.

The two hundred and fifty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés meet to discuss a weekend during which there was no change at the very top of the Primera: Boca Juniors and Newell's Old Boys both won, meaning Boca remain three points clear at the top. There was some re-ordering of the sides just below, though - partly thanks to yet another home draw for Independiente - and a dramatic shaking up of the relegation dogfight after shock wins for Atlético de Rafaela and Quilmes. We also look again at the Copa Libertadores and developments which have the potential to affect the immediate future of the Argentine national team, as well as explaining another new rumour about the next Primera championship. Oh, and HOP listeners within reach of London will want to listen out for a discount code to get 10% off tickets to the upcoming London Festival of Football Writing!

In the two hundred and fifty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés take you through a weekend of thoroughly entertaining matches, including two that ended 4-3, a convincing win (combined with a very unconvincing draw) that took Newell's Old Boys to within three points of league leaders Boca Juniors, and a frustrating draw that meant River Plate failed to go third. We consider Rodrigo Bentancur's form now his mega-money move to Juventus has been confirmed, and ask whether he (for Uruguay) or Ezequiel Barco (for Argentina) will be travelling to South Korea for the Under-20 World Cup. All this, as well as listeners' questions, and some predictions for the weekend to come from Mystic Andrés.

The two hundred and fifty-third episode of Hand Of Pod features Sam and Andrés, who are joined via Skype by Luke Smith, who's able to give us a Córdoba-dweller's perspective on the tragedy that struck Argentine football over the weekend when Belgrano fan Emanuel Balbo was murdered in the stands at half time of the Córdoba clásico on Saturday. What exactly happened, and what the punishment might end up being for Belgrano are among the topics discussed. We also look over a weekend of football which saw River Plate - in somewhat controversial circumstances - become the only member of the top five to win their match, and in so doing arguably join the title race, although they still have some distance to make up on Boca Juniors. As well as all this, there are listeners' questions on the second tier and on the most southerly clubs in Argentina's pyramid (which also happen to be the most southerly clubs in the world).

The two hundred and fifty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Peter meet to discuss the AFA's sacking on Tuesday of Edgardo Bauza as Argentina manager, and who might the next candidate be - with news filtering out shortly after we'd recorded that, as suspected, Jorge Sampaoli is the only serious candidate. Is he the right man for the job? Would he take it? And if he doesn't, who might the other options end up being? All these questions and more are debated. As well as this, we've got a look at a Primera weekend which was so action-packed, even Independiente found their shooting boots - and how!

The two hundred and fifty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss a weekend with a fair number of thrillers, including a 4-2 clásico win for Lanús over Banfield, a 3-2 win after being 2-0 and one man down for Racing away to Quilmes, and a controversial 4-3 victory for Tigre at home to San Lorenzo. That last result means Boca Juniors are now five points clear at the top of the league, and we also look at their 1-0 win over Defensa y Justicia (who are involved in continental football for the first time ever) and at River Plate's 2-1 away win over Godoy Cruz which seems to confirm that River are rediscovering their best form under Marcelo Gallardo. All this as well as the first machinations of Claudio Tapia as AFA president, in the form of him desperately hoping Edgardo Bauza resigns some time soon as national team manager.

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.

The two hundred and forty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss a week of domestic action which saw Boca Juniors lose for the first time since the opening weekend, San Lorenzo also defeated and an Ignacio Scocco hat trick for Newell's Old Boys (surprisingly, his first) put the top of the title race back to how it was two weeks ago. River Plate impressed away to Lanús on Tuesday, and there's plenty more to talk about besides. Not least, Argentina's World Cup qualifying clash at home to Chile on Thursday evening, which we preview, and whether Mauro Icardi should maybe be in the squad given he appears incapable of entering a pitch without scoring at least one goal these days.

The first weekend of Argentine football this year has finally been played, and in HOP248 Sam and Andrés are here to go over the main talking points, consider how many teams were affected by a long and hard-to-time-just-right pre-season (nearly all of them) and look at whether this factor also influenced performances in the Copa Libertadores (yes). Boca Juniors were the undoubted winners of the weekend, though San Lorenzo also took advantage. Listeners' questions include Copa Libertadores qualification rules this year and our opinion of Lautaro Martínez. A series of technical errors befell this recording, so you might notice the odd slight jump in sound or speech as bits had to be cut slightly, but enjoy!

What on Earth is going on in the world of Argentine football? The season was supposed to get underway on the second weekend of February and was only finally scheduled at all last week, and now we have some dates and kick off times it's still not been anything like clear whether this weekend's matches will even be played. Sam, English Dan and Andrés are back for the first HOP of 2017, and even by the standards set by Argentine football since we started recording in 2010, this one might get eye-wateringly confusing. Allow us to guide you through the summer break in Argentina, the vested interests, the arguments and the recriminations, as we attempt to explain to the layperson just what the bloody hell is happening (and, indeed, work that out ourselves). This episode is out of date before it's even online - there was no way we could avoid that - but the uncertainty over whether games will take place is still just as strong a mere 24 hours from the supposed start of action. The chaos is back.

The two hundred and forty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod is the last one of the year. Sam, Andrés and English Dan round up the last week of Primera action this year, which included two good results for River Plate (who claimed the Copa Argentina last week), another big win for Boca Juniors, who thus end the year at the top of the table, more dropped points for Estudiantes and plenty of other talking points, including a number of emotional farewells to players and various managers either resigning or being fired. As well as all this, there's also time to take a brief look at the current situation regarding TV rights for next year - which is currently up in the air. You'll be hearing from us again at the end of the summer break - if you're celebrating over the next week or two, enjoy!

The two hundred and forty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is the penultimate one of 2016, and Sam and Andrés meet to discuss Boca Juniors' 4-2 away win over River Plate in what - even as River sympathisers - we cant deny was a tremendously entertaining superclásico. Carlos Tevez was superb, and as well as praising his performance we also look at the reports he might be off to China soon. For River, there's a chance for some compensation in the form of the Copa Argentina final against Rosario Central, which is played on the evening this podcast goes live, and could see one - or both - of the managers, Marcelo Gallardo for River and Eduardo Coudet for Central, leave their club. All this, and there's still one more round of league action to preview, thanks to the one-week delay to the season kicking off back in August. As a result of that, we'll be back next week with an unusually festive edition.

The two hundred and forty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Peter meet to discuss Independiente's first win in a while, against River Plate's reserve side, and look into some of the struggles Gabriel Milito faces as manager. We have praise for Boca Juniors after an impressive win over Racing, ask whether Estudiantes' grip on first place is slipping, and look at Banfield's remarkable upturn in form, as a week after beating the league leaders they've now claimed a win over second placed Newell's Old Boys. All this, and some pre-superclásico thoughts too, as River Plate prepare to host Boca Juniors this Sunday. Enjoy!

The two hundred and forty-third episode of Hand Of Pod couldn't be solely about Argentine football, given events earlier in the week. Sam, Andrés and guest Lex meet up to discuss some of the Argentine reaction to the tragic plane crash on Monday night, with tributes planned across Argentina - and the rest of the continent - this weekend. There's also a look at a surprisingly entertaining clásico de Avellaneda, a very good performance from Boca Juniors and a rather fortunate win for River Plate, as well as Estudiantes' first defeat of the season, among much more.

The two hundred and forty-second episode of Hand Of Pod brings together Sam and Andrés to talk about a weekend in which the football was overshadowed in many press pages by Teo Gutiérrez once again being Teo Gutiérrez. The Rosario Central forward was sent off for his goal celebration during a 1-1 draw in La Bombonera. Elsewhere, River Plate lost 1-0 away to Newell's Old Boys, and there are rumours beginning that Marcelo Gallardo could leave the club if he fails to bring home the Copa Argentina (the semi-finals of which will be played next week). Estudiantes still lead the league, and have found a replacement for injured goalkeeper Mariano Andújar at last, while the relegation situation is beginning to clarify a little even with twenty games still to go (we're sticking our necks out now and saying Atlético de Rafaela will go down). There's also news about the television rights negotiations.

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.

In the two hundred and fortieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss a weekend of Primera action in which River Plate improved somewhat from recent showings to draw with top of the league Estudiantes, and Boca Juniors won away in the league for the first time since February. There was also an impressive win for Racing against Newell's Old Boys, while Independiente dominated but still couldn't score against Rosario Central. The main course of this week's podcast is of course a preview of Argentina's World Cup qualifier away to Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Thursday night, with a switch to 4-4-2 and the return to Lionel Messi the main talking points in the Argentine camp.

In the two hundred and thirty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss the main talking points from last weekend's Primera División action, including yet another three points for an Estudiantes side who continue to lead the league, and yet more goals conceded for River Plate, who threw away a 2-0 lead against the worst team in the Primera to draw 2-2. There's also a look at Boca Juniors' demolition of Temperley and San Lorenzo reserves' very entertaining 2-2 draw away to second-placed Newell's Old Boys, ahead of the first team's Copa Sudamericana semi-final first leg, which kicked off seconds before we finished recording. As well as all this, we consider what grounds the Bolivian football federation have for appealing the sanction that, on Tuesday, resulted in Chile being handed a 3-0 walkover which leapfrogged them above Argentina in the World Cup qualifying table.

In the two hundred and thirty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Tony are joined by Tony's flatmate Jorge to discuss a weekend of action which saw Estudiantes win the big top of the table clash away to San Lorenzo, and Newell's Old Boys end their eight year run without a win against bitter rivals Rosario Central. We also saw a rare clean sheet for River Plate, yet another away game without a win for Boca Juniors, and a club vice president asking to feel some balls, among plenty more.

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...

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.

The two hundred and thirty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés convene to discuss a weekend of Primera action which saw a very dull derby in La Plata and, at almost the same time, a considerably more dramatic showdown in Banfield, where the hosts came back from an early 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. There was an impressive, if not uncontroversial, win for River Plate over Vélez Sarsfield, yet another failure to win away from home for Boca Juniors, and a first home win for Ricardo Zielinski as Racing manager. As well as all this we discuss why plans to force Liniers to get a football pitch which actually fits the regulatory definition of the phrase 'football pitch' are a great loss for Argentine culture, and turn our attention to less important matters such as Argentina's upcoming World Cup double-header, and how they'll do without Lionel Messi.

The two hundred and thirty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod is a two-man job, with Sam and Andrés discussing yet another win for Estudiantes, who've now won four out of four at the start of the league season, and two more points dropped for River Plate in a thrilling match, as well as an impressive Darío Benedetto-inspired win for Boca Juniors among plenty more. We then turn our attention to Tuesday's announcement by CONMEBOL of some exciting (and long overdue) changes to the Copa Libertadores which should prove a great step forward for football across the continent, and look over Edgardo Bauza's list of call-ups for Argentina's upcoming World Cup qualifying double header against Peru and Paraguay, the first of which to Sam's surprise is next Thursday.

In the two hundred and thirty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Remi and Tony discuss a weekend of action which saw Estudiantes take a two-point lead ahead of River Plate at the top of the table, thanks to a 2-0 win over Atlético Tucumán before River were held at home to San Martín. Boca Juniors also dropped points, and questions marks once again hang over the team, while Atlético de Rafaela picked up a shock win over Gimnasia (who'd started the weekend joint top with River and Estudiantes) which might prove crucial come the end of the season in the relegation battle.

The two hundred and thirty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Fran and Andrés discuss very impressive wins for River Plate and Boca Juniors last weekend, as well as running the rule over early joint-leaders (along with River) Estudiantes de La Plata and Independiente. Last weekend was just the second time in the professional era that all of the Big Five have won to nil on the same weekend, although we caught rather less of Racing's and San Lorenzo's matches than we probably should have before attempting to discuss them. Also up for debate: are Rosario Central suddenly a bit crap, or are Vélez Sarsfield rather better than we thought they were? And how is the relegation battle - worth talking about even at this early stage thanks to the promedio system - shaping up?

The two hundred and thirty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Tony to look back over two weeks of action: the first round of Primera División season, the highlights of which were a 3-0 away win for Estudiantes over Tigre and 4-1 home victory for River Plate against Banfield, and Edgardo Bauza's first two matches as Argentina manager, a 1-0 home win over Uruguay and a 2-2 away draw to Venezuela in two rather different performances. Tony predicts this weekend's matches and other topics up for discussion are why Boca Juniors don't seem to have improved much at all, and (very briefly) some news about Daniel Passarella.

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.

Hand Of Pod is back from a long, dark, at times a little bit chilly winter break! Rejoice! We were planning to preview the upcoming season this week, but since it's been put back by a week, Sam and Fran instead take the opportunity to bring you up to speed with at least some of the stuff that's happened off the pitch in Argentine football in the last couple of months - and there's a lot to get through, from Lionel Messi's international retirement (and decision to keep playing after all) to Gerardo Martino and his coaching staff standing down en masse, and from the introduction of a FIFA Normalisation Committee to run the AFA to the temporary hiatus on the introduction of the long-awaited SuperLiga because they couldn't get a statute written and approved in time. We've got all this and more this week, so enjoy!

The two hundred and twenty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend of two entertaining games in which Estudiantes saw off Godoy Cruz for third place (and thus don't have to wait to find out whether they'll be in the Copa Libertadores next season) and Lanús thrashed San Lorenzo 4-0 in the Monumental in the championship final to be crowned kings of Argentina for the second time in their history. We ask what's next for various clubs, look at Boca Juniors' Copa Libertadores reinforcements so far, and have a discussion of the ridiculous (even by their standards) goings-on at the Argentine FA in the last week or so, before previewing Argentina's hopes in the Copa América Centenario and answering listeners' questions. We'll be back after the international competition, so enjoy it!

The two hundred and twenty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss the last weekend of 'regular season' action from Argentina's Torneo de Transición 2016, which saw a lot of dead rubbers including an emotional farewell to Diego Milito as the Racing legend played his final match. Also discussed are where River Plate's campaign went wrong, and the meaningful games which saw Argentinos Juniors relegated, San Lorenzo qualify for Sunday's championship final against Lanús and Godoy Cruz left having to face Estudiantes for a place in next year's Copa Libertadores (to the losers: probably also a place in next year's Copa Libertadores. It's very silly). All this and much more await!

This coming weekend wraps up the group stage of the 2016 Primera championship, and Hand Of Pod 226, with Sam, Andrés and Fede, contains all you need to know about the permutations. Godoy Cruz and San Lorenzo remain separated only on goal difference in their quest to qualify for the championship final against Lanús; one of them will take on either Estudiantes or Atlético Tucumán for a place in next year's Copa Libertadores group stage, whilst Argentinos Juniors and Sarmiento are the two sides involved in the relegation battle - although others need to keep racking up points too, because for reasons we go into in the second half of the podcast, we still don't know how many teams will be relegated next season. Rosario Central's and Boca Juniors' chances in the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals are also up for discussion.

The two hundred and twenty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés joined by Killian to look back over a weekend of league action which saw Lanús secure a place in their championship final by winning Group 2 with two matches to spare, whilst the race for the top of Group 1 remains neck and neck between Godoy Cruz (who are ahead on goal difference) and San Lorenzo. Now that River Plate are definitely out of the Copa Libertadores, there's the opportunity for some discussion of their struggles since winning last year's Copa, and Rosario Central and Boca Juniors are the only Argentine sides left standing in the continental competition. As well as this, we have some talk about club finances and political goings-on at the AFA which we're sure you'll find just fascinating.

The two hundred and twenty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod is short but sweet with plenty of food for thought. Lanús and Godoy Cruz continue to look like the two favourites for the title playoff - indeed, Lanús could confirm their place with two matches remaining depending on results this weekend - whilst last year's bigger sides all had underwhelming weekends due to Copa Libertadores commitments (Huracán went out on Tuesday night; River Plate and Racing followed them shortly after this episode was recorded). As well as this, we run the rule over Gerardo Martin's 40-man Copa América squad shortlist, answer listeners' questions, and predict what results will be like this weekend with the help of a die, to see whether it really is just pot luck...

The two hundred and twenty-third episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded by Sam and Andrés in a rather cold living room, because it's chilly in Buenos Aires at present and no gas in Sam's building means no central heating in Sam's building. The dedication we show to this podcast... anyway, we discuss a weekend of clásico action in which not very much happened, apart from one or two appalling fouls and some decent goals (but not many of them at all). Other topics covered are the AFA's need for new TV rights and national team kit deals (they need money from anyone who'll give it to them, so if you've ever wanted to sponsor a major international football team...), and the chances Argentine clubs have in the Copa Libertadores.

The two hundred and twenty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss the Copa Libertadores group stage, which has finished (or had almost finished, when we recorded) with five of Argentina's six clubs qualifying for the last sixteen - San Lorenzo are the odd one out. Boca Juniors' transformation under Guillermo Barros Schelotto continues apace; they've now scored ten goals in their last two matches, which isn't great news for their next opponents. Those next opponents are River Plate, of course, because this weekend is clásico weekend across the league, and Phil Carney is our Mystic Guest Predictor. All this and much more...

The two hundred and twenty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and English Dan to look back on another goal-packed weekend of Primera action which saw Vélez Sarsfield hand Rosario Central their first home defeat in nearly a year and a half, Lanús get a well-deserved win over Banfield in the clásico, and Huracán claim victory by the odd goal in seven over San Martín. Racing are having consistency problems, and travel to La Paz next week in need of a result against Bolívar (a one-goal defeat or better) to qualify for the Copa Libertadores knockout stage. English Dan is bullish about their chances. River Plate also continue to have issues, but in spite of a 2-1 defeat away to São Paulo on Tuesday will still almost definitely be in the last sixteen, whilst Boca are already there, Central sealed their place just after we recorded, and San Lorenzo are out.

In the two hundred and twentieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés, Fede and Remi discuss a weekend during which Rosario Central dropped points and River Plate lost, but Boca Juniors managed a marked improvement in a 3-0 win over Atlético de Rafaela and San Lorenzo came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at home to Belgrano. Boca's injury woes and River's lack of proper reinforcements over the summer break are topics of conversation, as well as Lanús' and Godoy Cruz's continuing fine form.

The two hundred and nineteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and Fran to look back on Argentina's two recent World Cup qualifying victories, away to Chile and at home to Bolivia. The character shown by the team, the attacking play in both first halves and of course the six points were some of the positives (as was Lionel Messi's brilliance in both matches), but the displays weren't perfect by any means, and we run the rule over what could have been better. Listeners' questions range from new Argentina goalscoring hero Gabriel Mercado to Daniel Osvaldo's fitness and whether it's acceptable for a foreigner to support Arsenal de Sarandí (the answer to that last one is 'no').

In the two hundred and eighteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter and Andrés have a bumper discussion beginning with the number of goals in the latest round of Primera action (52 in 15 matches)and travelling through the Big Five's iffy form and Ricardo Caruso Lombardi's latest streetfight to arrive at a preview of Argentina's two upcoming World Cup qualifiers, away to Chile on Thursday night and at home to Bolivia on Tuesday. Can the team keep up their good showing as Lionel Messi returns, or will the talisman's arrival mean the others revert to expecting him to do all the attacking work for them? All will be revealed...

Episode 217 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam welcome Andrés and English Dan to the studio to go over the last week in Argentine football with a fine-toothed comb. It's been a distinctly mixed seven days (and three matches) for River Plate, who were thrashed in the league but might have regained some confidence in the Libertadores on Wednesday night, and a good week for Boca Juniors, who claimed their first win of the Guillermo Barros Schelotto era on Monday. Estudiantes totally outplayed Gimnasia in the La Plata clásico on Sunday, and one of the consequences was the sacking of Gimnasia boss Pedro Troglio - though it might not have been a solely footballing decision. Lanús' and Rosario Central's unbeaten starts to the season have come undone, and there are some surprising competitors for the championship final positions, especially in Group 2.

The two hundred and sixteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Fede look back on a rather underwhelming superclásico which nonetheless gave us plenty to talk about - largely because we've now seen Guillermo Barros Schelotto in charge of Boca Juniors for a week (they play away to Bolívar in the altitude of La Paz in the Copa Libertadores tonight). If River v Boca was one of the lowlights of the weekend, though, there was plenty of entertainment elsewhere: previously winless Tigre hitting five past hitherto impressive Atlético Tucumán; nine goals in a crazy match in Santa Fe between Unión and Racing; Defensa y Justicia winning 5-1 away to Argentinos Juniors and many more goals besides. All this and more in just an hour and a quarter. Enjoy!

The two hundred and fifteenth episode of Hand Of Pod is a bumper one, as we've got a major talking point this week. Sam, Andrés and Boca Juniors fans Fede and Fran discuss Boca's decision on Monday to sack Rodolfo Arruabarrena and replace him on Tuesday with Guillermo Barros Schelotto as manager. Is this the change in direction the club needs? Can the new manager handle Carlos Tevez's influence on team affairs without upsetting anyone? And most importantly, with a Copa Libertadores game against Racing tonight (Thursday) and a visit to River Plate on Sunday, how quick an impact can GBS have? Aside from Boca, we also look back on a weekend which saw yet another great performance from Rosario Central, a second consecutive clean sheet for River and more impressive stuff from Atlético Tucumán.

Episode 214 of Hand Of Pod is short but sweet, as Sam and Andrés take you through the last week in Argentine football. There are some entertaining matches to discuss, with San Lorenzo's 3-2 win over Vélez Sarsfield and River Plate's 3-3 draw away to Rosario Central the highlights - though Boca Juniors' 4-1 win at home to Newell's Old Boys is also a topic of conversation, and Colón's unbeaten start to the campaign came spectacularly undone with a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Godoy Cruz in Mendoza. The clásico de Avellaneda was a desperately dull match until the last few minutes, so we don't waste too much time talking about it. The Copa Libertadores group stage has begun, but until we've seen another few matches it's a little early to comment on that yet.

Episode 213 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan look back on two rounds of fixtures during which Boca Juniors almost lost a manager but ultimately kept him, and found their first win of the new year thanks to a goal from Carlos Tevez. As well as Boca, Newell's Old Boys and Vélez Sarsfield also both look rather better now than they did a couple of weeks ago, which makes Boca v Newell's a particularly interesting fixture this weekend. Newell's revival came in the form of a 5-0 tonking of Racing days after being played off the pitch by Central in the clásico rosarino, and Central are one of four clubs who've recorded three wins out of three (Aldosivi have a chance to do the same, but haven't done yet because Huracán's last two matches were postponed). This episode is later in the week than normal, but join us again next week, when we'll be back to our normal schedule.

The two-hundred and twelfth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Peter, Andrés and returning panel member Rob Brown to look back on the opening weekend of Primera División action; matches which saw River Plate tonk Quilmes 5-1, Boca Juniors held to a 0-0 draw away to Temperley and Racing suffer the indignity of defeat away to newly-promoted Atlético Tucumán, among other results. Rodolfo Arruabarrena's job as Boca manager is in serious jeopardy after a 4-0 defeat in the Supercopa Argentina (which happened after we recorded this episode), but he'll still be in charge this weekend - though for how much longer? We also give you the latest on Huracán's coach crash in Venezuela. Rumours of Patricio Toranzo having toes amputated are untrue.

Hand Of Pod is back for 2016, and Sam is joined by Andrés, Fede and Fran to preview another transitional championship, confusing format, stupid non-existent clásicos and all! We run the rule over which sides had good summers, which had indifferent ones and which had bad ones - where do some of the recent big hitters need to improve after disappointing last year, and who apart from Rosario Central are best placed to break the Big Five, who were resurgent in 2015? As well as this we've a change to the Mystical segment of HOP for this year - we want you to send in your predictions, and each week one lucky listener will get to try and beat the score set by Sam on this opening weekend. Can't be that hard, can it...?

The two hundred and tenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Gustavo meet for a post-Hannukah (and pre-Christmas) podcast roundup of the last month in Argentine football, starting with River Plate's runners-up spot in the Club World Cup - and some alternative ideas for a format which could produce a more equitable tournament - and then looking back at the Argentine FA's hilarious/disastrous attempt to elect a new president earlier this month. We then give an overview of the final playoff results for the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana qualification places, and have a quick look at Tuesday's Libertadores group stage draw. Merry Christmas to all our listeners, and you'll hear from us again in 2016!

The two hundred and ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan, Andrés, Fran and guest Rob Crisp for a brief roundup of the qualification playoffs for the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, and a preview of the finals for same (including a Racing v Independiente double-header for the final Libertadores spot, which is going to be great fun for the neutral). On Thursday night, Huracán reached their first ever continental final, a 2-2 draw at home to Copa Sudamericana holders River Plate giving them a 3-2 aggregate win and meaning River's amazing run of continental success under Marcelo Gallardo has come to an end, a couple of weeks before they get underway at the Club World Cup. We look back on that tie, on what Huracán have got to shout about and how they might do in the final against Independiente Santa Fe, and at River's ongoing issues ahead of their trip to Japan.

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.

Episode 207 of Hand Of Pod is a very special one, because on Friday we turn five years old. Sam is joined for the celebration by Andrés, English Dan, Peter and very special guest Tim Vickery, who's flown down from Rio de Janeiro specially for the occasion. Entirely coincidentally to Tim's visit (honest), on Thursday night Argentina host Brazil in World Cup qualifying, so after a review of last weekend's most important league action - which saw Nueva Chicago relegated in spite of an impressive win over Quilmes - and a discussion about our team of the championship, we move on to previewing Argentina v Brazil. There's plenty of chat throughout about the differences between football in the two countries, from the trends in management (Argentina good, Brazil bad) to player development, in which it seems both countries have something of an imbalance in very different ways.

The two hundred and sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Fede convene to talk about what might be Argentina's first proper domestic league-and-cup double (although given how young the Copa Argentina is, that's not quite as historic as it sounds). Carlos Tevez ended up making the difference for a Boca side who got cross the line in the title race on Sunday by beating Tigre, and who owed a large debt of gratitude to an eyecatchingly bad refereeing (and linesmanning) performance in Wednesday night's Copa Argentina final against Rosario Central. We discuss Boca's merits and what they need to strengthen ahead of next year's Copa Libertadores, and look forward to the upcoming final weekend of normal season league action, with a rundown of what's at stake in each of the matches Mystic Sam predicts.

The two hundred and fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan joined by Tony, a long-time listener and first-time caller. It's a bumper edition, as we stick our teeth into last Friday's Copa Argentina semi-finals, which leave Boca Juniors and Rosario Central - the top two in the league - going head to head in the final next Wednesday in Córdoba. San Lorenzo's Edgardo Bauza and Racing's Diego Cocca both announced they'll be leaving their managerial positions at the end of 2015 mere hours before we recorded, and Bauza in particular will surely have the pick of the continent's clubs. As well as this, we knew before recording that River Plate and Huracán were in the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals (Independiente played after we recorded, and went out), and there's an Argentina squad to consider as the team prepare to take on Brazil and Colombia without Lionel Messi in two weeks' time. All this and much more...

In the two hundred and fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and English Dan for a look at last weekend's Primera División action, which saw Boca Juniors fail to capitalise on a fine chance to claim the title after San Lorenzo had lost - Boca were well beaten by Racing, and will need a result at home to Tigre next weekend in order to avoid a nervy title-decider on the last weekend away to Rosario Central. Nueva Chicago got a spectacular 5-0 win at home to Newell's Old Boys on a goal-packed weekend, but then had to watch as Colón got a 3-1 win over Arsenal - Colón's first win in six matches - which means Chicago are five points adrift with two matches remaining. There was plenty more to discuss, from River Plate's apathy towards the league to whether Daniel Oldrá is a better manager than Gabriel Heinze for Godoy Cruz (okay, not really much of a discussion on that last point). There's no Argentine football this weekend apart from the Copa Argentina semi-finals on Friday night, and we preview those as well.

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.

The two hundred and second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés convene to discuss a weekend of football which saw Boca Juniors open up an imposing six point lead at the top of the table with just three matches remaining. Following San Lorenzo and Rosario Central's 2-2 draw, Boca struggled a bit but still beat Crucero del Norte 1-0, as a result of which Crucero, to no-one's surprise, are relegated. Still clinging on to their Primera status - for now - are Nueva Chicago, who grabbed a 2-1 win over Vélez Sarsfield. River Plate put in an awful performance and were well beaten, 3-0 by Independiente, and Quilmes' good form continued. This weekend the Primera takes a break for the first double-header of CONMEBOL's marathon World Cup qualifying campaign, which will see a Lionel Messi-less Argentina host Ecuador on Thursday and travel to Paraguay on Tuesday.

The two hundred and first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and English Dan as well as newcomer Fran to discuss a weekend of action which saw Boca Juniors take a decent lead in the title race as San Lorenzo dropped points to Tigre. Rosario Central shouldn't yet be ruled out though, as they reminded everyone with a 4-0 thrashing of Gimnasia. We also run the rule over Jonathan Calleri, who if some English newspapers are to be believed is attracting interest from Arsenal (of London, not Sarandí), and look at the two confirmed candidates for the first proper election the Argentine Football Association has had since... oh, a very long time indeed.

Hand Of Pod is 200 episodes old, and this week Sam is joined by Peter and Andrés for a champagne celebration in a bumper episode. We look back over a weekend of Primera action which saw Carlos Tevez make more bad headlines (for breaking an opponent's leg) than good (for scoring twice) during Boca Juniors' 3-1 win over Argentinos Juniors which saw them remain top of the table. There were a few belting goals as well, and there's praise for the fine form of Independiente, Quilmes and others. We examine the run-ins of the title candidates - of whom we've decided there are three, with both leaders Boca and current second-placed San Lorenzo still yet to play third-placed Rosario Central, and also look at Gerardo Martino's first World Cup qualifying Argentina squad, which among more predictable calls includes Paulo Dybala's first call-up and Gonzalo Higuaín's exclusion. All this and plenty of listeners' questions! Thanks for your support over our first 200 episodes, and here's to plenty more...

The hundred and ninety-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is a post-clásico-round edition, with Sam and Andrés looking back over a weekend which saw Boca Juniors beat River Plate in the Monumental to go top of the league after San Lorenzo had surprisingly lost their derby away to Huracán. Independiente turned in the only really impressive clásico performance, beating Racing 3-0, whilst a lot of the other derbies were rather damp squibs. There's discusssion of Newell's Old Boys' and Vélez Sarsfield's disappointing current situations, and a rather dampened down plan for the return of away fans to Argentine stadia this coming weekend, with only one Primera match to see visiting supporters after all.

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.

This week's Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés have as much off-pitch stuff to focus on as on-pitch. San Lorenzo drew and Boca Juniors won, to leave Boca two points clear at the top heading into this Sunday's clash of the top two, but the bigger news last weekend was in Mendoza, where Godoy Cruz v Racing was called off after 25 minutes with Racing leading 1-0, after Godoy Cruz barras started pelting the players with stones, apparently in protest at new manager Gabriel Heinze's refusal to give them money. There is also crisis at Crucero del Norte, whose players have started to publicly complain about how they have to travel to away matches. As well as all this, we look at the latest bizarre twists in the ongoing story of Marcelo Tinelli's campaign to get elected as president of the Argentine FA, look at two more points dropped by River Plate, and much more.

In the hundred and ninety-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on a weekend which saw San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors extend their (joint-)leadership of the title race, as they both won and River Plate slumped to a second straight defeat. Even more amazingly, Nueva Chicago won for the second week running - though we suspect both they and the team they beat, Crucero del Norte, will still be the two sides ultimately doomed to relegation. Argentina manager Gerardo Martino had some choice words for the Argentine FA's schedulers, and River are entering the transfer market after Ramiro Funes Mori's sale to Everton leaves them with a slot to fill in the defence and the cash to do so.

The hundred and ninety-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan discuss an eventful round of action in the Primera last weekend, with San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors both claiming 2-1 wins to remain joint top, and their closest pursuers River Plate surprisingly lose to San Martín de San Juan, to fall behind in the title race - had River won that game and the one they still have in hand, they'd have been joint top. We also run the rule over Everton's new signing, River defender Ramiro Funes Mori, and consider a promising performance from Racing and more political discussions at the Argentine FA. Enjoy.

The hundred and ninety-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés and English Dan to discuss what little football has been played since our last episode - namely, the last few games of the last 32 of the Copa Argentina. There were wins for Racing and Independiente, whilst Atlanta also advanced. As well as that, we also discuss another trophy for River Plate, albeit a rather less meaningful one than the one they picked up last week, and explain who Marcelo Tinelli is (at least within the context of football) and why so many people are currently getting so exercised at the prosect of his becoming president of the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino. All this and Mystic Sam's twentieth round predictions - we might be a day later than normal, but we couldn't leave those out...

The hundred and ninety-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés, Peter, Joel and special guest Richard Martin to talk about River Plate's 3-0 win over Tigres UANL on Wednesday night, and the third Copa Libertadores title it gave the club. The role of Marcelo Gallardo in using and adapting River's tradition and expectations, the key players in the win and where the squad might go next are all discussed, before we move on to talk about a goal-packed weekend in the Primera División which ended with Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo tied on points at the top (River, three points behind them, didn't play at the weekend and have a game in hand). There's no football this weekend in Argentina due to primary elections, but Mystic Joel instead tells you what to bet on in the political sphere (not really).

In the hundred and ninety-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés and Remi to look back on a week which saw Boca Juniors strengthen their position at the top of the league with a backs-to-the-wall win away to Belgrano after San Lorenzo had dropped points against Godoy Cruz. River Plate's reserves beat Colón, but the main focus of River's week was Wednesday night's Copa Libertadores final first leg away to Tigres, from which they took a 0-0 draw. Other topics up for discussion are the relegation battle (which increasingly looks rather an easy one to predict the outcome of) and a large variety of listeners' questions, ranging from Nueva Chicago's politicised fanbase to Racing's chances of defending their title.

The hundred and ninety-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés in a good mood after River Plate's qualification for the final of the Copa Libertadores for the first time in 19 years. A 1-1 draw with Guaraní in Asunción, with Marcelo Gallardo signings Tabaré Viudez and Lucas Alario combining for the crucial goal, proved decisive and next week River will face Tigres of Mexico in the first leg (we didn't know this when we recorded). As well as River in the Copa, there's also a full weekend of Argentine league action to look back on, including River reserves' 5-1 tonking of Atlético de Rafaela, and wins for San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors (on Carlos Tevez's return to La Bombonera)which mean it's still Boca-San Lorenzo-River in a 1-2-3 at the top of the league table. Andrés also has a preview of this weekend's biggest league match, the clásico rosarino between Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central.

The hundred-and-nintieth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés, Fede and long-time HOP listener but first-time HOP contributor Johnny to look back over an eventful week. Boca Juniors leapfrogged San Lorenzo into top spot in the league, getting a gritty 1-0 win away to Sarmiento after both San Lorenzo and River Plate had been held to draws earlier in the weekend. For River, at least, there was the consolation of a fine performance and 2-0 win on Tuesday night in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semi-final against Guaraní of Paraguay - the second leg will be next Tuesday in Asunción. On Monday, as well as a Vélez Sarsfield v Tigre match which saw a dramatic finish, there was Carlos Tevez's unveiling at La Bombonera, to which around 40,000 people showed up - Boca fans Fede and Johnny give us their thoughts on Carlitos' return and what it means for the team. As well as all this, we have a look at a few managerial debutants, including Gabriel Heinze, who Sam believes is the first graduate of both the Ferguson and Bielsa schools of football management (i.e. he played under both of them).

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.

The hundred and eighty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and English Dan gather for an uncharacteristically early recording session, defying a national strike to see to it that you get your weekly dose of nonsense. We begin with a look at the last weekend of action in the Argentine Primera, in which San Lorenzo's lead at the top was cut by Boca Juniors with a thumping 4-0 win at home to Newell's Old Boys, but River Plate threw away the chance to stay level with Boca by only drawing away to Olimpo. Dan's presence mean Racing are up for discussion again, but the main focus is of course the Copa América, which gets underway on Thursday evening when hosts Chile take on Ecuador. We give you the lowdown on (in our opinion) the main contenders - using Sam's newly-patented 'how many players in their mid-twenties do each squad have?' metric (eat your heart out, Nate Silver!), and of course go particularly big on Lionel Messi & co., who are looking to finally claim Argentina's first senior trophy since the 1993 Copa.

In the hundred and eighty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Gustavo meet to discuss the penultimate weekend of Primera División action before the league breaks for the Copa América. San Lorenzo are out on their own at the top due to a win over Quilmes combined with Boca Juniors losing for a second successive week, this time away to Vélez Sarsfield. River Plate got a slightly controversial win over Rosario Central, prompting us to ask whether Ramiro Funes Mori is the Argentine league's answer to John Terry (because he seems to get away with a penalty decision every game, not all the... other stuff); we also look back on River's Copa Libertadores progression last week, and Racing's exit to Guaraní, both of which happened after episode 186 was recorded. As Gustavo is here, there's a roundup of lower division action as well, focussing mainly on the Nacional B so far this year.

In the hundred and eighty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés to discuss another lively week. There's talk about the reaction in Argentina to this week's FIFA arrests in Zurich, and how they affect Argentina (oh, how we wish Julio Grondona had lived long enough to have been bundled into the back of one of those electric cars), though we're sceptical about how much will change. We then cover last weekend's league action, during which Aldosivi dismantled Boca Juniors' unbeaten league record and San Lorenzo beat Sarmiento to move joint top - River Plate's chance to join them didn't come, as their game away to Tigre was the only Primera game of the weekend to be delayed by the AFA decision to cancel the remainder of the weekend's matches out of respect for Cristian Gómez, the Paraná defender who died of a heart attack during his side's game against Boca Unidos on Sunday afternoon. We were deeply pessimistic about River's chances of Copa Libertadores progression just after this episode was recorded, but as it happened we should have been more cheery - River got a 3-0 second leg win to qualify for the semi-final.

The hundred and eighty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Peter talking about the only thing anyone in Argentine football has been discussing in the last few days - the pepper spray-and-acid attack by the Boca Juniors barra brava on River Plate's players which saw the second half of the Copa Libertadores quarter-final superclásico called off, and Boca disqualified from this year's competition. The political ramifications at the club and for Argentine Security Secretary Sergio Berni (who claimed the security operation had been a roaring success), Boca's protestations and appeals, whether CONMEBOL were too lenient with their punishment and more are all on the table. The tragic death of Emanuel Ortega which caused the calling-off of last weekend's league fixtures means Mystic Sam remains almost unchanged in his predictions this time, though there has been one adjustment compared to last week's readings; he now thinks Estudiantes can win away to Atlético de Rafaela.

In the hundred and eighty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter and Andrés look back on a goal-laden weekend of Primera División action, and on last week's Copa Libertadores last sixteen first leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors. We consider what River's 1-0 win means for Thursday night's return leg, and domestically we discuss Crucero del Norte's uselessness, Belgrano's and Rosario Central's good campaigns, and Independiente's chances of losing three players to various European clubs, as well as Federico Mancuello's hilarious red card on Sunday night against Boca, and why he won't be suspended for this Sunday's clásico away to Racing, which we also preview. Listen before Thursday's Libertadores second leg between Boca and River for the full experience, but there's plenty more in store if you don't get here until afterwards!

In the hundred and eighty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés are joined by Mariano, returning to the pod after a long absence, and new boy Federico, the second of our newly-acquired tame Boca Juniors fans. We look back on Boca's 2-0 win over River Plate on Sunday in the league, and review the rest of the weekend's action as well - including some thoughts from Mariano on San Lorenzo's decline and Copa Libertadores exit. We then preview this Thursday's clash between River and Boca at the Monumental in part two of the Superclásico Trilogy, in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores last sixteen tie. Will Sunday's Boca win play a role in either manager's thinking? Will we see unchanged teams? Which side has more pressure on them, and is a Libertadores last sixteen tie more or less important than a Copa Sudamericana semi-final? All these questions and more are addressed. And this week it's only an hour and a bit long, so early birds have plenty of time to listen before the match!

In the hundred and eight-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Joel are joined by new boy - and Boca Juniors fan - Julian in an exciting week in Buenos Aires, as we gear up to watch three clashes between River Plate and Boca Juniors in just eleven days; two in the Copa Libertadores last 16, and first of all one in the league this Sunday. We discuss how both sides have come to be sitting joint first after ten matches, how recent superclásicos have gone and what we expect in the upcoming clashes - as well as why the choice of referees, especially for Sunday's encounter, has caused such a big fuss. Prior to that, we have a round-up of the other recent action in Argentina, including a Copa Argentina catch-up and a look at the other sides in the Copa Libertadores knockout stages, because apparently there are some.

In the hundred and eighty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Peter look back on a weekend of action that left River Plate and Boca Juniors joint top of the table as they prepare to head into their clash at La Bombonera on the 3rd May (there are no matches this weekend). The two will also clash twice after that in the last 16 of the Copa Libertadores, but we'll do a full preview of those matches next week; this time round we look at Racing and Independiente, who both drew their matches 0-0 last weekend, and consider some of the league's less heralded heroes so far. This week's history bit has Dan telling us about the time Alfredo Di Stéfano was kidnapped by a Venezuelan group of political protesters.

The hundred and eightieth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés joined by new boy Remi, who brings a continental European air of sophistication (and a typically Dutch manner of speaking against received wisdom) to the podcast. We discuss the results over the weekend which led to Boca Juniors, River Plate, San Lorenzo and Rosario Central to all be tied on 21 points at the top, look at an emotional clásico del Sur in which Lanús beat Banfield 2-1, and explain how River Plate were up against it in the Copa Libertadores as we recorded (we returned afterwards to let you know how that turned out). Remi also tells us about his visit to Temperley on Friday, where he watched the hosts beat Colón 2-1. This week's history section is a tribute to Uruguayan journalist, historian and football writer Eduardo Galeano, who died on Monday.

The hundred and seventy-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discuss referee Germán Delfino's decision to rescind a penalty and red card seemingly on television evidence during Vélez Sarsfield's 2-1 win over Arsenal de Sarandí on Saturday - what happened, and how have the Argentine media tried in places to twist the story? Other topics on this episode are River Plate's weekend clásico win, 1-0 over San Lorenzo, and Boca Juniors' 2-0 victory away to Huracán which took Boca top of the nascent league table. We also find time for a six-goal thriller between Defensa y Justicia and Rosario Central, the end of Unión de Santa Fe's unbeaten record, and much more besides. This week's history section is devoted to Omar Sívori, the great former River and Juventus striker who made his debut 61 years ago last Saturday.

The hundred and seventy-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is a whopper, but with off-pitch trouble, plenty of goals in a week when the league leadership changed hands, Daniel Osvaldo's on-pitch trolling, two national team friendlies and a new regular Argentine football history section to include, how could it be any other way? We discuss San Lorenzo's thrashing of Lanús and River Plate's last-gasp win over Gimnasia, as well as Boca's canter against Estudiantes, before changing our focus to Argentina's recent friendly victories over the Isle of Man - sorry, I mean, El Salvador - and Ecuador, in the first of which Federico Mancuello did a Harry Kane by coming on as a second half substitute and scoring shortly after. The subject of our first history section is a man who would have turned 100 years old on Monday - Arsenio Erico, the Paraguayan who is the all-time top goalscorer in the history of Argentina's Primera División.

The hundred and seventy-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés discussing a weekend of Primera action that was notable for late goals deciding the outcomes of matches, and for Rosario Central's perfect start to the campaign coming to an end with a draw away to the bottom club, Atlético de Rafaela (Central remain top, though). Argentinos Juniors' unbeaten record came spectacularly undone, Aldosivi and Unión produced a 3-3 draw and Boca Juniors goalkeeper Agustín Orión is in hot water after breaking San Martín forward Carlos Bueno's shin (though we say it was accidental). Perhaps most surprisingly of all, both Independiente and River Plate managed to keep clean sheets! All this and more awaits, though we've almost no discussion of Argentina's upcoming internationals, since they're only friendlies.

In the hundred and seventy-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Santi look back over a goal-packed weekend of Primera action in which only four sides out of the thirty managed to keep clean sheets (and two of those were in the same game). River Plate's problems continued but they battled back to a 3-3 draw with Arsenal, whilst Rosario Central remain top of the league with a 100% record courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Temperley. And for Lanús, Santiago Silva's exit seems to have lifted some of the weight from their remaining attackers' shoulders, because they got a thumping 5-1 win away to Godoy Cruz. All of this is covered, as well as the Argentine sides in the Copa Libertadores and a look at the three local league players who've been called up to the national team for next month's 'tour' of the USA.

In the hundred and seventy-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Peter discuss another weekend of action which included an amazing 53-yard lob from San Lorenzo's Pablo Barrientos, River Plate throwing away a 2-0 lead to draw with Unión, and Boca Juniors being held away to Colón. Rosario Central, meanwhile, have won four out of four under rookie manager Eduardo Coudet, whilst their cross-city rivals Newell's Old Boys still don't look the finished article, though they defend with the ball well. Also, a third of the league are bloody awful - to no-one's surprise - with Crucero del Norte the unwilling poster boys for the shortcomings of most of the ten newly-promoted sides.

The hundred and seventy-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés begin with a discussion of yet more violence affecting Argentine football, after a weekend marred by a running street battle involving the barra brava of fourth division club Laferrere which left 2 policemen seriously injured. We then move on to review last weekend's action in the Primera División and the last few Argentine games in the Copa Libertadores. San Lorenzo lost at home to San Martín - and just after we recorded this episode, also lost at home to Corinthians - but things look less gloomy for the rest of the Big Five, whilst Estudiantes and Rosario Central are also doing well. Hand Of Pod is sponsored by Argentina Independent, a wonderful source of English-language news from Argentina and across Latin America.

The hundred and seventy-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Peter, Andrés and Jon Gilbert to discuss the second weekend of Argentina's monster new Primera. River Plate were held in a lively 2-2 draw with Quilmes, Boca Juniors made it two league wins out of two and champions Racing have just one point from their first two matches, but there's a long way to go yet. We also discuss the Libertadores games that have taken place since we last recorded (since we recorded this episode, Boca Juniors beat Montevideo Wanderers 2-1 on Thursday night), and have a brief conversation about the Copa Argentina.

The 2015 Monster Championship has begun, and in the hundred and seventy-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Santi and Peter convene to look back on the first weekend of action. Champions Racing got off to a losing start, Independiente edged a five-goal thriller, whilst things were rather more pedestrian for River Plate, Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo, who all recorded routine wins. The first managerial casualty of the season has, faintly ridiculously, already occurred, with Reinaldo Merlo sacked by Colón. We also look at the Copa Libertadores and tell you exactly who will qualify from each group.

Hand Of Pod returns from the summer break with our first episode of 2015. Sam, Andrés, Peter and Gustavo preview Argentina's controversial new 30-team top flight in this episode. Which teams have done best and worst in the transfer market, who's already had some form of competitive action to get warmed up for the task ahead, and should Argentine sides be expected to make waves in this year's Copa Libertadores? All these questions are answered, along with some more, probably. We are pleased to announce a new partnership with the Argentina Independent starting in this episode - they pay for our fernet, we tell you that argentinaindependent.com is an excellent English-language source of news from Argentina and across Latin America. Check it out.

The hundred and seventieth episode of Hand Of Pod is our last of 2014, and we leave on an unexpected note: Racing Club managed not to racinguear on Sunday, and are the new champions of Argentina. Sam and Andrés, River Plate fans, are for once outnumbered by Racing fans; English Dan, Ilan and the prodigal son of Hand Of Pod, Seba García. We discuss Racing's fine end-of-championship form to lift the trophy, and where the side go from here. We also have a special appearance from Marrakesh by San Lorenzo fan Mariano, who's travelled to watch his team at the Club World Cup; what did he make of the semi-final extra time win over Auckland City, and what does he expect for Saturday's final against Real Madrid? You'll have to listen to find out. The 2015 Primera fixture list has already been released, too, and we discuss that and look back on a memorable 2014 for Argentine football, which has seen Argentine clubs win both South American club cups, a highly entertaining championship all round during the second half of the year, and the small matter of the national side reaching the World Cup final. Good luck to San Lorenzo on Saturday, and may 2015 be every bit as memorable. Merry Christmas (or happy celebration of your choice) to our listeners, and we'll be back in the new year!

The hundred and sixty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is going online rather late this week, mostly because Sam's computer was out of order for a while, delaying the editing process. In it, Sam and Andrés discuss River Plate's long-awaited return to international glory, after they claimed their first international trophy in seventeen years by winning the Copa Sudamericana (the continent's second most important competition) on Wednesday night. What should River aim at next year, and would this highly successful 2014 have been possible had the club not been relegated in 2011, among other considerations? We then move our focus to preview Sunday's two league title deciders, as leaders Racing host Godoy Cruz and second-placed River (them again) visit Quilmes. Is there any chance at all that Racing will do a Racing and cock it up? Could River complete an unlikely double? Sunday's matches both kick off at 8:30pm Argentine time (11:30pm Greenwich Mean Time), and we'll be back late next week to fill you in on what happens.

The hundred and sixty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Peter recording in Sam's new living room, with the traffic noise of Avenida Santa Fe drifting in through the (closed) windows. There's plenty to discuss, because it's been a week since River Plate saw off Boca Juniors 1-0 in an epic Copa Sudamericana semi-final clash, and just a day (at the time of recording) since they secured a 1-1 draw in Medellín against Atlético Nacional to give themselves a decent chance in their home leg of the final, next Wednesday. We also look back on the three most important games of last weekend, which saw Lanús drop out of the title race as Racing stayed top with a 3-0 win away to Rosario Central, and River clung to their coat-tails to take the title race to a postponed last weekend with a thrilling 3-2 win over Banfield, which included Fernando Cavenaghi's 100th and 101st goals for the club. All this, and much more...

The hundred and sixty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod is the first to fall neatly between two superclásicos, and Sam is joined by Andrés, Gustavo and Asli (and her canine companion Vinicius) to look back on last Thursday night's disappointingly dull 0-0 in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana semi-final, and forward to this Thursday's return leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors. At the weekend, River took a gamble with their team selection against Racing in the league, and it backfired - Racing snatched a 1-0 win to go top of the table with two games remaining. There were surprising wins away from home for Godoy Cruz and Arsenal de Sarandí, some promotions to next year's top flight have been clinched, and there was a barra brava turf battle in the cafeteria of River's stadium. We also give you the clearest idea we possibly can of what the 2015 Primera División is going to look like, because that seems to have been confirmed now (though further developments would surprise none of us).

In the hundred and sixty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by English Dan for an afternoon espresso and a chat about an interesting week past and a thrilling one to come. We begin with some discussion of the latest declarations from the AFA, which shed a little (but just a little)light on how the Primera will look in 2015, but which fail to answer all the pertinent questions. After that, we move on to a quick review of last weekend's top flight action, which saw River Plate and Lanús both drop points, allowing Racing and Independiente to gain ground. We then consider the coming week, with the Copa Argentina semi-finals to be played shortly after this episode goes online on Wednesday, followed on Thursday by the first leg of an epic Copa Sudamericana semi-final between Boca Juniors and River - sandwiched between which, league leaders River also visit second-placed Racing. These are going to be days which will define River's campaign, so enjoy this episode while it's relevant!

The hundred and sixty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded late in the week, because Friday was the fourth anniversary - one whole World Cup cycle! - of our first ever episode going online. Sam is joined by one of the HOPers from that first episode, English Dan, as well as by Andrés, Peter and Gustavo, to look back on a week which had just about everything in Argentine football; a highly controversial refereeing performance, a tightening title race as River Plate's club record unbeaten run finally came to an end, the Argentine FA making more changes to the structure of the next few championships, football-related deaths in depressing quantities, and a lot more besides. We also asked you, the listeners, to tweet and email us some of your favourite Argentine football memories from the last four years. We hope you've enjoyed the ride so far, as we embark on our fifth year...

Episode 164 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by English Dan for a congenial afternoon espresso and a chat about the past week in Argentine football. No fewer than four Primera matches were rained off last weekend, including those of the top three in the table, which allowed Racing, with a fifth win in seven matches, to move into third place. Dan, of course, is eager to give them full credit for this, and Sam humours him. We cast our eye over some of the rest of the league as usual, before looking forward to the second legs of the Copa Sudamericana quarter-finals involving Argentine sides; Boca Juniors' trip to Asunción to take on Cerro Porteño was kicking off shortly as this episode was uploaded, whilst River Plate v Estudiantes de La Plata gets underway in a few hours. This week's episode is a short one - ideal for sharing with your friends if they've not listened before!

In episode 163 of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Peter and Andrés to discuss Carlos Tevez's return to the Argentine national team, ahead of the upcoming friendlies in England against Croatia at Upton Park and Portugal at Old Trafford. After that, we spend a good while wondering just how good this current River Plate team are, after Marcelo Gallardo's boys beat Estudiantes 2-1 in the Copa Sudamericana on Wednesday evening to make it 29 matches unbeaten in all competitions - equalling River's best unbeaten run of the professional era, and leaving them just two short of the longest unbeaten run in the club's entire history. Does this say more about the current state of the Argentine league than anything else? After that, we look at the rest of the league. Listeners' questions include just how things are going for Juan Román Riquelme's Argentinos Juniors.

The hundred and sixty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés joined one last time (or so he claims) by Neil Clack, author of an actual published book. We look back on Rosario Central's 2-0 win over Newell's Old Boys in last weekend's clásico rosarino, and consider where Newell's go next, before reviewing the rest of the weekend's action - and a very satisfying seven days for River Plate. The Argentine sides in the Copa Sudamericana get a once-over (except Boca, who only secured their place in the quarter-finals a couple of hours after we finished recording this episode), and we talk a bit about the incoming league structure and other annoying related things.

In the hundred and sixty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés look back on Argentina's two recent friendlies in China - in Beijing against Brazil and in Hong Kong against Hong Kong (although neither of us saw the latter). We explain why the AFA won't be getting any money themselves from the Hong Kong match, before looking at the weekend's Primera action, which saw River Plate emerge as the big winners - other sides stumbling, combined with River's 1-0 win away to Newell's Old Boys, means the champions have a four point lead at the top of the table. We also belatedly preview this weekend's Rosario clásico between Central and Newell's, among much more.

The hundred and sixtieth episode of Hand Of Pod is a chance for Sam, Andrés and Peter to review Sunday's superclásico, in which River Plate and Boca Juniors played out a 1-1 draw in an extremely wet Estadio Monumental. A poor refereeing performance, a farcical pitch and, above all, an awful lot of rain were on the agenda for Sam (who was lucky enough to be there), whilst the others enjoyed it from the warmer and drier surroundings of their sofas. Elsewhere, Tigre made it three league wins out of three under Gustavo Alfaro, Lanús kept the pressure on River at the top of the table by beating Rosario Central, and Independiente's good run continued with a highly entertaining 2-2 draw away to Godoy Cruz. All this and some typically interesting listeners' questions are right here. Enjoy!

In the hundred and fifty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Andrés, Gustavo and Joel to preview this Sunday's clash between River Plate and Boca Juniors in the Monumental. We give an overview of the history of the fixture (and who better to guide us through it than Joel, who wrote the book on the rivalry?), and bring things up to date with a look at how both sides' campaigns have gone so far. A look at last weekend in the Torneo de Transición follows, with Newell's Old Boys' unbeaten record brought to an end by Banfield, and Racing starting to look competent again (give it a week...). The superclásico on Sunday will be live to the world for free on YouTube via Fútbol Para Todos' channel - this is the only preview you need for it.

The hundred and fifty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan discuss Gerardo Martino's first real Argentina squad, after he was obliged to name an AFA-imposed one for the friendly against Germany earlier this month. We discuss why Carlos Tevez wasn't included, and what the inclusions of Erik Lamela and Javier Pastore tell us about where Martino is going with his side. The AFA are talking about reverting the format of the league back to a 20-team top flight from 2016, and we have a weekend of action to look back on including yet another River Plate victory - this time a 4-1 thrashing of third-placed Independiente (which explains why Peter was mysteriously unavailable this week).

The hundred and fifty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés beging with a look back at Sunday evening, when one-and-a-third matches were called off due to some 'orrible weather in (Greater) Buenos Aires throughout the day. We wish good luck to Jonás Gutiérrez in his fight against testicular cancer, and look back on the matches last weekend which actually did get played; Independiente have gone joint second, along with Newell's Old Boys, whilst Vélez Sarsfield have slumped somewhat in recent weeks. Oh, and we also have the Dwarf Priest of La Plata to talk about, as we look back on one La Plata clásico (in the Copa Sudamericana on Tuesday) and forward to another (in the league on Saturday).

In the hundred and fifty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter and Andrés are joined, surprisingly, by Neil Clack and we discuss a week of enormous confusion in the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association; dates have been moved back and forth for not one, not two, but three different competitions, but we give you the definitive say on when the superclásico will be played: it's the 5th October. Well, it was when we recorded anyway. Who knows when it will be now. We also talk about River Plate's continued impressive performances, ask whether Boca are improving in anything more than results, spend a good deal of time laughing at Racing (well, they make it so easy for us) and tack on a quick bit of chat at the end about Colombia's World Cup captain Mario Yepes, who looks like he's joining San Lorenzo.

The hundred and fifty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is a rather long one, because we've had a lot to cover; Sam, Peter and Andrés are joined by a special guest, the Sydney Morning Herald's Sebastian Hassett, who's been touring South America since the World Cup finished. We have two rounds of domestic action to look back on since the last episode, and those have included the sacking by Boca Juniors of Carlos Bianchi, their victory (and impressive performance) over Vélez Sarsfield in the first match of new man Rodolfo Arruabarrena's spell in charge, River Plate going top of the table with another couple of very good showings, Tigre manager Fabián Alegre finally being sacked after a year of solid defending but disappointing attacking... oh, and also a few Copa Sudamericana games, the Avellaneda clásico in which Independiente beat Racing 2-1, and the small matter of an Ángel Di María-inspired Argentina thrashing Germany 4-2 in Düsseldorf on Wednesday - we take it as an excuse to discuss the impact he could have for Manchester United, as well as looking at how Gerardo Martino's Argentina might be made up.

The hundred and fifty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod is one of those rare episodes which clocks in at well under an hour. Sam is joined by English Dan for a daytime recording, looking back on a goal-filled weekend of action in the Primera which saw no fewer than three 4-0 scorelines and a 3-3 - this season still hasn't produced any goalless draws. Vélez Sarsfield and River Plate particularly impressed, whilst a 3-0 win for Atlético de Rafaela - their first ever in La Bombonera - has plunged Boca Juniors still deeper into crisis. We wonder how much longer Carlos Bianchi can cling on as manager, and whether Boca's problems run deeper than simply having let Juan Román Riquelme go during the winter transfer window. There's a midweek round (or two-thirds of one, at least) on Tuesday and Wednesday, hence the early recording of this episode.

Sam, Peter and Andrés begin Hand Of Pod 153 with a look at two of the biggest Argentine moves in the European transfer window so far - World Cup star Marcos Rojo's move from Sporting to Manchester United, and World Cup flop Federico Fernández's transfer from Napoli to Swansea City. We ask how much the World Cup really told us about both players' levels. We then look back on the second weekend of Primera División action, which saw a superb performance from River Plate, a comfortable 2-0 win for Racing over newly-crowned champions of South America San Lorenzo, and an undeserved but potentially morale-boosting victory for Boca Juniors away to Belgrano, as well as a rollicking five-goal thriller between Banfield and Defensa y Justicia, two of the promoted sides. Enjoy.

On the hundred and fifty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter, Andrés and Joel are joined by Neil Clack, a former resident of Buenos Aires and author of Animals! The Story of England v Argentina, who is visiting BA again after a few years away. We've got a lot to talk about, starting with San Lorenzo's first ever Copa Libertadores win on Wednesday night. We also discuss Gerardo Martino's unveiling as Argentina manager after Alejandro Sabella stood down, Juan Sebastián Verón's announcement that he'll stand for the Estudiantes de La Plata presidency in September, yet more potential messing around with the league structure... oh, and the first weekend of league action, because that happened as well. It's a long one, but we hope you'll enjoy it.

In the hundred-and-fifty-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Santi, Andrés and Peter have a lot of explaining to do. That's because the new season is upon us, and it behoves us to explain why we're entering a 'transitional championship' and what exactly we're transitioning to (erm, we don't really know at this stage, and the AFA don't seem 100% decided either). We ask which sides did best in the winter transfer window, which sides did worse, and whether Racing can once again flatter to deceive having apparently strengthened impressively. Can River Plate defend their title? Will Boca Juniors finally step out of Juan Román Riquelme's shadow? These and many more issues are dealt with. We also take a look at San Lorenzo's Copa Libertadores final, which is currently 1-1 after the first leg, with the second leg to come in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.

One story dominates the hundred-and-fiftieth episode of Hand Of Pod, and we make no apologies for it: Sam and Andrés mark a landmark episode with discussion of Julio Grondona's exit from his position as head of the Argentine FA, which came to pass in the manner he frequently said it would; in a coffin. The FIFA Vice-President died on Wednesday afternoon, and we ask what the consequences will be for the AFA and for FIFA. If you don't believe in speaking ill of the dead, you might want to avoid this one. We also congratulate San Lorenzo on reaching their first ever Copa Libertadores final, ask whether outgoing Argentina boss Alejandro Sabella was the man who killed Grondona (sort of), and answer a few listeners' questions. Thanks to all our listeners for helping us reach this milestone; here's to another 150 episodes!

The hundred-and-forty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Gustavo look back on the semi-final and final of Argentina's World Cup campaign, and on the tournament as a whole from the Argentine perspective. What went wrong, what went right, what could have better and more. We ask whether Lionel Messi had a good or a bad tournament, look at the reasons for his attacking colleagues not firing on all cylinders, and consider what might have been in the final. We also turn our attention to some names for the future, and consider how Argentina's squad for the next World Cup, in Russia 2018, might look. At the time of posting, Alejandro Sabella hasn't made a decision on whether or not he'll continue in charge, but we also consider the good job he's done so far, and ask who might take over if he does decide to go.

The hundred-and-forty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod was convened to discuss Argentina's historic qualification for their first World Cup semi-final since 1990, but before we get on to that, we have to begin by bidding farewell to Alfredo Di Stéfano, whose arrival in Madrid in 1953 changed the history of European football. Sam, Peter and Santi are joined by Argentine football historian Esteban Bekerman, who provides a unique perspective on Di Stéfano's place in Argentina's football culture and tells us how his game developed from the early years as a fast-paced centre forward at Huracán and River Plate to become perhaps the greatest all-round player who ever kicked a ball. After that, we look at Argentina's World Cup campaign so far; perhaps underwhelming performance-wise, but undoubtedly successful already given they've finally got past the barrier of the quarter-finals after so long waiting for a return to the semis. As listeners will realise towards the end, this episode was recorded before that astonishing Brazil 1-7 Germany first semi-final.

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.

The hundred-and-forty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés discuss River Plate's second trophy in a week (and their third in two weeks, if you're particularly easily pleased), Colón's relegation/Atlético de Rafaela's survival, the Argentine national team a little bit, and Independiente's chances of regaining Primera División status on Saturday, among other things. Soon, we'll have a World Cup preview episode. For now, enjoy this one.

The hundred-and-forty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Peter, Gustavo and Andrés joined by a documentary film crew from the USA; the American Fútbol boys have been touring Latin America and filming their way around it in the run-up to the World Cup. Before we get on to their story, though, there's plenty to review; starting with the end of another shocking season for Racing, but quickly moving on to the week's biggest story, River Plate's 35th Argentine top flight title, secured with a 5-0 thrashing of Quilmes last weekend. We also look at a near unbelievable end to the relegation struggle which is not, in fact, and end to the relegation struggle, since Colón and Atlético de Rafaela now have to play off to decide who goes down; that match will kick off roughly 12 hours after this podcast goes live (i.e. on Saturday afternoon). We have a general Torneo Final review including Boca Juniors' runner-up spot, and much more. Enjoy!

The hundred-and-forty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod is recorded in Sam's living room, and he, Peter and Andrés - backed by a dog, an antiquated and improperly removed former doorbell and a passing heavy goods train - discuss Argentina's World Cup longlist, including why Carlos Tevez has NOT been left out for Franco Di Santo. We then move on to look at the last weekend of the Torneo Final, which begins on Friday but sees all its crunch matches on Saturday; will River Plate claim their first title since their return to the Primera? Will Estudiantes given Juan Sebastián Verón a trophy-winning send-off? Will Gimnasia finally end the wait for a professional Primera title? We also look at the relegation table, which sees Godoy Cruz enter the last weekend one point ahead of Colón and Atlético de Rafaela (if two or more sides end up tied on points, there'll be a playoff to decide who goes down). Enjoy.

The hundred-and-forty-third episode of Hand Of Pod is upon us, and Sam, Peter and Andrés review another weekend of Torneo Final action as River Plate draw back level with Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata at the top - both have 31 points - with just two rounds of matches left. All Boys have been relegated following a 3-1 defeat to Boca Juniors, and there were tremendously entertaining matches between Arsenal and Newell's Old Boys, and River and Racing - both of which ended 3-2. Wasn't it just last week we were asking whether it was a dull league after very few goals had been scored? We ask why a barra brava group feel able to demand free World Cup tickets from the AFA, wonder who'll replace ‘Mostaza’ Merlo as Racing manager, and try to explain how the bloody hell Copa Sudamericana qualification works, among other subjects.

The hundred-and-forty-second episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés begin with an in-depth consideration (much more in-depth, we'd be prepared to bet, than the AFA gave it) of the Argentine Football Association's decision this week to expand the top flight to thirty teams and change the entire league structure as from next February. What it means for the top flight, what the second half of 2014 in Argentine football will look like, why it's been done and how many people are happy about it (just the one, and you can guess his name), among other subjects. We then get on to the football from last weekend, in which Argentinos Juniors were relegated, Gimnasia La Plata took a two point lead at the top of the Torneo Final, Boca Juniors looked impressive and there were some fine goals scored. Oh, and down in the second division, Independiente won a match!

There's a lot to get through on Hand Of Pod 141, but Sam, Peter and birthday boy Andrés manage to whistle through in under an hour and a half, for once. First on the agenda is the news that on Wednesday, Javier Cantero finally stood down as Independiente president. How the club's barra brava forced him out and why, in spite of being against the barra, many ordinary fans will be happy to see him go as well is the first topic of the day that we tackle. We then consider the Primera División title race - River Plate and Gimnasia La Plata now sit joint top of the Torneo Final - and ask whether River are the favourites, given the run-in they have. Also up for discussion is the relegation battle, in which although most teams (bar Argentinos Juniors) are quite close together, it looks like the three drop spots are all but settled already. Questions include our thoughts on Lanús' full back Alejandro Silva and our all-time favourite Argentine club kits.

Episode 140 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Peter welcome not one but two special guests - Jonathan Wilson returns to HOP and Rupert Fryer finally makes his long-awaited debut. We discuss Ramón Díaz and Ricardo Caruso Lombardi embarrassing themselves to varying degrees, two managerial changes, as Newell's Old Boys and more surprisingly, Arsenal de Sarandí both changed bosses, consider the title race and the relegation battle and ask how Argentine sides will do in the Copa Libertadores - four of Argentina's five representatives are in the knockout stage, with only Newell's failing to get out of their group. We also look at whether Fernando Gago's injury is really bad news for either Boca Juniors or Argentina and have a bit of a laugh at Racing, who've been rubbish again lately.

Hand Of Pod episode 139 is a bumper edition, featuring Sam, Santi, Andrés and Peter. They discuss not one but two rounds of Torneo Final action, including a 3-3 thriller between Racing and Estudiantes which no-one saw coming, and a 2-1 away win for Rosario Central in Sunday's Rosario clásico against Newell's Old Boys. Three sides lead the Torneo Final on 21 points, with two more just behind them on 20, and the top nine are separated by just three points. We also look at Argentine hopes in the Copa Libertadores - at the time of recording, Lanús, Vélez Sarsfield and Arsenal had all confirmed their places in the knockout stage. A couple of hours after recording ended, San Lorenzo joined them, but just as this episode was uploaded on Thursday night, Newell's Old Boys crashed out. Santi's not been on for a while and has grown jealous of HOP new boy Gustavo hugging the lower league limelight, so we also let him give a roundup of Ascenso action, and look at the frankly slightly silly notion that Boca Juniors might be in relegation trouble next season. Since we recorded, and following Newell's Copa exit, their manager Alfredo Berti has resigned.

The hundred-and-thirty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded at lunchtime on Tuesday, over mate, in order for us to get it to you ahead of (most of) the eleventh round of Torneo Final action. It features Sam, English Dan and a brief guest appearance from Sam's brother, Will, who tells us what it was like watching - or rather, trying to watch - Boca Juniors v River Plate from a cafe on the Bolivian border with a small child who was more interested in cartoons. We dissect River's 2-1 away win in the superclásico as no other English-language Argentine football podcast can, as well as considering the other results from the weekend and how they affect the title and relegation races. We also take a look at how Argentine sides are doing with one match each of the Copa Libertadores group stages left, give a mention to some very good news for San Lorenzo fans, and much more. Enjoy.

The hundred-and-thirty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Peter and Andrés joined by German Dan to discuss an interesting weekend of matches, at the end of which Colón were still top of the Torneo Final pile, and looking increasingly likely to avoid relegation, points deduction or no points deduction. There were surprising results on Saturday and more predictable ones on Sunday, which concluded with a dire goalless draw between Quilmes and Boca Juniors. Boca's next match is of course at home to their arch rivals River Plate, so as ever we dedicate a chunk of this week's pod to previewing the superclásico; will River get their first win in La Bombonera in a decade? Can Boca lift their game? We also discuss Dan's side Argentinos Juniors, and what's gone wrong for them, and Peter tries to give us a quick lowdown of what mentalness is happening at Independiente this week. All this and more awaits...

In episode 136 of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Peter, Andrés and some bloke called Joel who wandered in wanting to record discuss last weekend's Torneo Final action. There are thirteen teams within six points of the top after half the championship has been played, and in spite of an unexpectedly thrilling defeat to All Boys, River Plate are one of them. Boca Juniors are also up there, also in spite of themselves, whilst the table is still lead, oddly, by Colón (who before this episode was uploaded, beat Tigre 1-0 to ensure they'll be joint top for another week on Friday night). Circumstances prevented this one being edited and uploaded before early Saturday morning, but it was recorded on Wednesday evening.

In the hundred-and-thirty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Peter look back over a weekend which saw two of the title frontrunners - league leaders Colón and their pursuers Estudiantes - drop points, allowing the race to become even more congested; even River Plate, who picked up seven points in three games last week, are only three points off the lead, despite now not having scored more than once in a league game for more than half a season. We run the rule over each of the Big Five, particularly Boca's distinctly un-crisis-like form, and ask how Argentina's sides are getting on (or were, as of Wednesday evening) in the Copa Libertadores. Listeners' questions range from how a 'local national team' would do at the World Cup to the future of Argentine full backs.

In the hundred-and-thirty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Peter, English Dan and Andrés, as well as Gustavo Malamud, an Atlanta fan. We discuss another double round of matches - we're a third of the way through the Torneo Final already - in which it was a decent week for Colón and Newell's Old Boys among others, a poor one for Racing (obviously) and Arsenal, and a more mixed one for other sides, including the two giants River Plate and Boca Juniors. We consider where the Argentine national side are in relation to where they'd like to be ahead of the World Cup, Gustavo gives us a primer on the Primera B - that's the THIRD division - and we reveal what this season's English Premier League relegation battle would look like if the Football Association decided to adopt the Argentine relegation system.

The hundred-and-thirty-first episode of Hand Of Pod features Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Ilan. They look back over the fourth round of the Torneo Final, which saw some wonderfully entertaining games: two golazos from Gonzalo Castellani as Godoy Cruz beat Rosario Central 3-0; a 3-2 thriller in La Fortaleza where Lanús ousted Vélez; a frankly slightly silly 2-2 draw in the round's final match between Gimnasia and Belgrano in La Plata... and a simply awe-inspiring performance from Newell's, who ended a run of thirteen matches without in spectacular fashion, dismantling Atlético de Rafaela to claim a 4-1 victory (they did it again as this episode was being edited, beating Nacional 4-0 in the Copa Libertadores). Boca Juniors finally won a game; their 1-0 win over Estudiantes was the La Plata side's first defeat of the year. And of course, River Plate and Racing are both looking awful again. We ask why that is. Enjoy.

In the hundred-and-thirty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by English Dan, Peter and Rob, and we discuss not one but two rounds of league action, with the third round having been played in midweek. San Lorenzo have started looking like the defending champions with back-to-back victories, Estudiantes have started with three straight wins to top the table early on, Racing look like... well, Racing, and it's been a poor week for Boca Juniors. River Plate are in hot water over another security issue at the Estadio Monumental, and Tigre manager Fabián Alegre might be our new favourite manager. Oh, and Ricardo Caruso Lombardi's back. All this and much more...

The hundred-and-thirty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and Rob look back over the opening weekend of the 2014 Torneo Final, which featured better than expected (better than we expected, at least) performances from River Plate and Boca Juniors, champions San Lorenzo starting as they don't mean to go on with a defeat away to Olimpo in Bahía Blanca, an impressive win for Racing - who endured a typically farcical situation surrounding their new signing Wason Rentería - and more. We ask whether Newell's have shot themselves in the foot by not adding to their strike force and whether Argentinos Juniors are going to be more entertaining this year, and give you the back story to the 20-year-old who'll be making his debut in goal for Belgrano away to Boca Juniors on Sunday.

Episode 130 of Hand Of Pod is the best-sounding ever, thanks to a new microphone paid for by the enormous generosity of HOP listener Doug Hart. Sam is joined by Santi, Mariano, Andrés and new HOP cast member Peter Coates to look back over a relatively quiet summer in the transfer market, and look forward to a hectic-looking Torneo Final. Éver Banega's move to Newell's Old Boys, River Plate's and Racing's impressive pre-seasons, Boca Juniors' continuing injury woes and more are all up for discussion, among much more. Enjoy.

The hundred-and-twenty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is also the last of 2013, and Sam is joined by English Dan and Joel to look back over a Torneo Inicial that was settled in an entirely predictable manner; with all four of the title hopefuls failing to win, meaning San Lorenzo took the trophy by default with the lowest points total of the three-points-for-a-win era. Lanús have the consolation of the Copa Sudamericana, only the third major trophy in their history (and the second in the last six years), whilst River Plate, Boca Juniors, Racing and the rest of the pre-season supposed title hopefuls could only look on enviously. We consider Colón's woeful last few months, look at how Independiente are going at the halfway point of their campaign in the B, and Joel gives us the lowdown on Rodolfo D'Onofrio, who as of Tuesday is the new president of River Plate, having won Sunday's elections by a resounding margin. It only remains for us to say thanks for listening during 2013, merry Christmas if you're celebrating it, and we look forward to entertaining (or at least bothering) you all again in 2014.

The hundred-and-twenty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded two days before the start of the final round of league fixtures, and we still have no idea who out of San Lorenzo, Lanús, Newell's Old Boys and Vélez Sarsfield are going to be champions - Vélez host San Lorenzo and Newell's host Lanús in the last round, but those matches won't be played until Sunday the 15th. That's due to Lanús' participation in the Copa Sudamericana final (they drew the first leg 1-1 shortly after we recorded this episode). We also look at Racing's continuing improvement, San Lorenzo bottling the job against Estudiantes, a five goal thriller between Gimnasia and Quilmes, and give updates on the situations at Colón (who could be forcibly relegated) and Independiente (going well in the B). The next episode of Hand Of Pod won't be until after the league season is finally over, the week starting the 16th December.

In the hundred-and-twenty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and guest Ilan are invited round to English Dan's swish new pad. We discuss the fallout of last weekend's clásico, which saw Racing beat River Plate 1-0, and look at how and why the title frontrunners dropped points yet again (to be fair to them, in four cases it's because they were playing each other). We also bring the latest from the situation in Santa Fe, where Colón are in danger of being de-affiliated from the AFA, ask whether Ramón Díaz and Carlos Bianchi are really the best managers for River and Boca Juniors, and basically teach ourselves during the recording who All Boys' new manager Ricardo Rodríguez - who started with a 2-0 win in La Bombonera - is. Oh, and there's news of the first Swiss person ever to score a competitive goal in the Argentine league. Since this episode was recorded, Lanús have advanced to the final of the Copa Sudamericana, where they'll play Ponte Preta.

In the hundred-and-twenty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Andrés and Santi are joined by Rob Brown, an Englishman who's in Buenos Aires for a few months almost entirely in order to watch Juan Román Riquelme play. We discuss another weekend of surprising results and exciting matches - not least a five goal thriller in Sarandí, where Santi and Rob watched Arsenal beat Boca Juniors 3-2 - and look at crisis club Colón, whose players refused to turn up for their match against Atlético de Rafaela on Monday. Some of Colón's players are owed wages going back as far as a year, and the affair has cost club president (and Julio Grondona associate) Germán Lerche his position; he resigned after the fracas on Monday. We also ask how much worse River Plate can get, before considering a thrilling six-way title run-in (San Lorenzo, Newell's Old Boys, Arsenal, Boca Juniors, Lanús and even Rafaela all have a decent shot at the trophy) and looking back on Argentina's international friendlies in the USA, among other topics.

The 125th episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded on our third birthday, and Andrés and Sam raise a glass to that fact before getting stuck in to last weekend's action, which saw Boca Juniors make up some ground on the top two, Newell's Old Boys and San Lorenzo, after they'd drawn against each other. The biggest winners of the last few weeks, though, have been Copa Sudamericana semi-finalists Lanús, who might just have a tilt at the title. We check out the run-ins that each of the top five have with four matches of the season remaining, and ask whether Atlético de Rafaela could possibly be candidates as well (answer: no). There's another chance to moan about how crap River Plate are, and a celebration of the fact that Vélez Sarsfield's elimination from the Copa Sudamericana last week means South American football's not bent after all. What better birthday present could we ask for?

The hundred-and-twenty-forth episode of Hand Of Pod is one of our shortest ever episodes, but hopefully we've still got enough to be going on with. Racing, having won twice in a row, are officially no longer rubbish, and English Dan celebrates by returning to the pod. He and Sam run the rule over Racing's sudden improvement, and contrast it with River Plate's absolutely awful form, which plumbed new depths on Wednesday night as they lost 3-1 at home to Lanús to go out of the Copa Sudamericana. We ask why David Trezeguet didn't start for Newell's Old Boys last weekend - he came off the bench to score twice, helping them claim a 2-2 draw away to Colón - and look forward to this weekend's big top of the table clash between Newell's and San Lorenzo. All this and much more. Next week, Hand Of Pod turns three years old, so please share this episode with your friends and join us next week for the celebration!

The hundred-and-twenty-third episode of Hand Of Pod was recorded on Diego Maradona's 53rd birthday, and after giving that fact the amount of coverage it deserves, we move on to a review of the last two rounds of Torneo Inicial action. Central shocked Newell's in the clásico rosarino, River Plate still can't score and Manu Gigliotti's in fine form for Boca Juniors. Oh, and RACING HAVE WON A MATCH! Former Arsenal (de Woolwich) player, and now former Quilmes manager, Nelson Vivas clocked a fan and has been replaced by big-balled 'Argentine Ferguson' Blas Giunta, and a lot of other people have been getting very aggressive indeed in Argentine stadia. For once, it's mostly players, not barras. There's also time to consider whether River Plate goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero really deserves an Argentina call-up, and the amount of attention Mauricio Pochettino's English managerial exploits are getting in Argentina (short answer: zero).

The hundred-and-twenty-second episode of Hand Of Pod gave us a lot to talk about, and it was quite an achievement to have got the final thing down to an hour and a half. Santi hosts in his new home for the first time, and Sam is also joined by German/Chinese/Relevant Dan and HOP debutant Jonathan Gilbert, author of a recent New York Times piece previewing this weekend's clásico rosarino. We discuss Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign and what they need to improve between now and Brazil 2014, before looking back over a weekend of surprises in the league and asking whether Newell's Old Boys already have the title sewn up. As already mentioned, Newell's play their bitter enemies Rosario Central this weekend, and we also preview the return to the Primera of perhaps the country's most passionate derby.

The hundred-and-twenty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Andrés welcome Sam and Mariano to his living room for the first time, as we look back on Boca Juniors' 1-0 win away to River Plate in Sunday's superclásico. That was far from the only talking point of the weekend; we had wrongly-given red cards for diving, two managers left their jobs, another two seem to be on the brink, and Racing, of course, are as awful as ever. We consider what value an injury-ravaged Argentina side can take from their final two World Cup qualifiers, given that their place in Brazil next year is already secure, and discuss Mauro Icardi's impending debut for the national side among other things.

The hundred-and-twentieth episode of Hand Of Pod is the first appearance of Fede González, and it's timed perfectly - he works on one of the most popular unofficial Boca Juniors Twitter accounts around, and has arrived just in time for our big superclásico preview episode. We discuss bad times at Racing and second division giants Huracán and consider another impressive performance from leaders Newell's Old Boys before turning our eye on the weekend's biggest attraction: the super. Both River Plate and Boca Juniors won last time out, so come into this one in rude health and both in the title race for the first time in what seems like a long while. Before closing, we also consider Mauro Icardi's first call-up for Argentina for next week's World Cup qualifiers, in Lionel Messi's absence. Since this episode was recorded, Vélez Sarsfield have advanced in the Copa Sudamericana and Arsenal beat All Boys on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Copa Argentina semi-final.

Hand Of Pod episode 119 sees Sam and Andrés discuss the very low number of away wins so far this season, as home sides continue to get by far the better results. Maxi Rodríguez scored a fantastic winner to get Newell's one of the few away wins last weekend, and Newell's are one of only three sides to have managed more than one away win in the league this season. We also discuss River Plate's ongoing struggles to find form and the other highlights of a low-scoring weekend, before turning our eye on Independiente's campaign in the B so far - El Rojo are now five matches unbeaten, having endured an awful start to the season. Questions include 'why fernet?' and 'is Caruso Lombardi really the Argentine Mourinho?'

The hundred-and-eighteenth episode of Hand Of Pod is recorded unusually early in the day, and features only two voices: those of Sam and English Dan. We discuss River Plate getting upset by refereeing (and why they've only themselves to blame for not winning the match anyway), Boca Juniors being perhaps a tad better than we've given them credit for - at least at home to crap opponents - and the crap opponents in question: Racing, who continue to be awful following the introduction of Carlos Ischia as manager. All this and much more - and it's only 47 minutes long this week! How we spoil you sometimes.

The hundred-and-seventeenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Joel and Andrés discussing Argentina's confirmation of their place in the Brazil 2014 World Cup, courtesy of an historic 5-2 away win over Paraguay on Tuesday night. After that, we move on to review a surprise-filled weekend of Torneo Inicial action which saw Mystic Sam get only one prediction correct. River Plate's attack finally clicked (as did Olimpo's), Racing avoided defeat, Newell's were tonked by Vélez Sarsfield and more. Independiente also managed their first win in the B on Monday evening, a fact we completely forgot to mention even in passing. There's always next week...

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!

It was an historic weekend in Argentina; for the first time ever, all of the Big Five - River Plate, Boca Juniors, Racing, Independiente and San Lorenzo - lost in the same round of matches. So inevitably, this week's Hand Of Pod, which features Sam and English Dan, focusses on the grandes and their varying states of disarray, with both Avellaneda clubs having fired their managers (since our recording, Omar De Felippe has been confirmed as new Independiente boss). We also consider with incredulity the fact that Ricardo Caruso Lombardi's Argentinos Juniors are still up near the top of the table, and have exclusive not-live coverage of the second half of Newell's Old Boys v Gimnasia La Plata, which was being played as we were recording.

We're only three rounds into the season, but all the same it's a little bizarre to be looking at a league table and seeing Argentinos Juniors on top of it. In the hundred and fourteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Santiago sings the praises of their manager Ricardo Caruso Lombardi, Sam continues to get exasperated by River Plate's eternal struggles to get Teo Gutiérrez registered to play, and Joel is the usual voice of calm reason. We also consider Boca Juniors' and Estudiantes de La Plata's improvement, why Rosario Central haven't yet lived up to the promise of the opening weekend, and how much trouble Luis Zubeldía is in at Racing, as well as Gerardo Martino's barely acceptable start as Barcelona manager. Listeners' questions include whether Lionel Messi really needs to win a World Cup before he'll be considered better than Diego Maradona.

Episode 113 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Joel review the first two rounds of the 2013 Torneo Inicial, in which we've learned that River Plate still have a lot of improving to do, Boca Juniors' defence might be as bad as it was during the first half of the year, and San Lorenzo could well be the team to beat this term. There have been mixed showings from Godoy Cruz and Rosario Central among others, and Mystic Sam has had an equally turbulent time; from 7/9 in the first round to 2/9 in the second. His predictions for round 3 - and for Boca Juniors v Newell's Old Boys in the postponed first round match - are towards the end of the pod, as usual.

The hundred-and-twelfth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Santiago reviewing the couple of weeks of transfer activity that have followed episode 111, and previewing the 2013 Torneo Inicial. First, we answer the question on everyone's lips: 'What is a Gerardo Martino, and why has it been chosen to manage FC Barcelona?' after which we get into the important stuff. You know - the domestic stuff. Who have been the winners and losers in terms of players out and in? Which club have decided to get around restrictions on non-Argentine players by, erm, completely ignoring said restrictions? Can Boca possibly do any worse than they did in the first six months of the year? And how have the AFA managed to make twats of themselves since you last heard from us? Step this way, and we'll fill you in.

The hundred-and-eleventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Santi meet for a mid-winter fernet and to discuss Newell's Old Boys' exit from the Copa Libertadores, the AFA's bizarre decisions regarding the validity of championships won both this year and back in 1936, violence at Independiente, where the club president was attacked by the barra brava a couple of weeks ago, and various winter break transfer issues. In a couple of weeks, we'll be back to preview the 2013 Torneo Inicial.

The hundred-and-tenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Joel meet to look back on a memorable Torneo Final - what seemed like an emphatic championship win for Newell's even though they only ended up three points clear of second placed River Plate, San Martín's last day relegation, Boca Juniors' hideous campaign, River's qualified success - and forward to the main talking points of the winter break. We ask which players will be moving on and staying, what the main movers and shakers have to do with their squads, and attempt to explain how continental qualification works. There's also the Hand Of Pod Best XI of the championship, and a look at how the Torneo Final would have looked had every match gone exactly as Mystic Sam predicted...

The hundred-and-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Santi return to discuss an eventful week in Argentine football. Independiente were relegated last Saturday courtesy of a 1-0 defeat at home to San Lorenzo; Newell's Old Boys won the championship on Wednesday without kicking a ball as Lanús - who'd thrashed River 5-1 on Sunday - failed to overturn a 2-0 half time deficit in completing their postponed match against Estudiantes. We discuss how deserving Newell's win was and look at how they and Independiente had such wildly different seasons, having started 2012-13 on exactly the same (poor) standing in the relegation table. As ever, there's a lot more besides.

The hundred-and-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is a bumper one, during which Sam, English Dan and Joel look back on Argentina's two World Cup qualifying draws to start with, before getting into the serious stuff in the domestic league; two called-off matches and one fan shot dead by police, a restaurant looted by Independiente fans after defeat to River Plate left their side's survival hopes hanging by the slimmest of threads, the possibility that Newell's Old Boys could win the league on Sunday, the question of whether anyone at all involved in Argentine football pays their taxes, and much, much more besides. Enjoy.

In the 107th episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Santi are joined by prodigal son Joel Richards to look back on a weekend of domestic action and look forward to a weekend of both domestic and international matches. Argentinos Juniors' 2-0 win over River Plate had ramifications for both the relegation table and the title race, and means Independiente could (though it'd be a stretch) be relegated this coming weekend. Newell's Old Boys missed the chance to pull five points clear, whilst Racing and San Lorenzo are both close to securing Copa Sudamericana places. We also look forward to Argentina's World Cup qualifying double-header; they'll play Colombia at home on Friday, and Ecuador away on Tuesday. It's longer than the last few, but we hope you like it.

The 106th episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Santi convene to discuss what we were previewing in episode 105 - the three matches (two in the Copa Libertadores, one in the league) which Newell's Old Boys and Boca Juniors have played since then. Newell's were the happier side, with a 4-0 league win and a penalty shootout win in the Libertadores after two dull 0-0 draws. We also ask whether River Plate can challenge for the league title, whether Independiente can catch Argentinos Juniors in the relegation battle, and whether Quilmes v Racing (which was played a few hours before this episode was uploaded, and ended 1-0 to Quilmes) was likely to be fixed, among much more. Oh, and we tell you our favourite ratios for mixing a fernet and Coke.

Sam and English Dan are joined by Santiago for this week's Hand Of Pod, in which we begin with a discussion of an astonishing couple of days at Argentinos Juniors, including manager Ricardo Caruso Lombardi losing his rag on live TV (hardly for the first time, it's true) and much more. We also talk about the top three all failing to win in the Torneo Final at the weekend, Independiente edging closer to an unlikely survival, and promotions for Rosario Central (back to the Primera) and Talleres de Córdoba (back to B Nacional), before previewing the mini-series of games that Newell's Old Boys and Boca Juniors will play in the next few days. Listeners' questions include European transfer targets and Buenos Aires' most dangerous stadia.

In episode 104 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are joined by Mariano in a later-than-usual recording, which enables us to look back at (most of) Argentina's Copa Libertadores involvement during this week - Boca Juniors eliminating Corinthians in controversial circumstances, and Newell's Old Boys sending Vélez Sarsfield out on away goals (in the remaining fixture, which ended an hour and a bit after we stopped recording, Tigre were eliminated by Olimpia). We discuss the relegation battle, which could see Unión relegated next weekend, and an ever-intriguing title race, as well as the news that Pablo Migliore, now released on bail, has had his contract rescinded at San Lorenzo. Listeners' questions include the signings of the championship so far, and Argentine footballers' wages.

In the hundred-and-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel get together to discuss the main talking points from last week's superclásico, which, being a superclásico, weren't so much on the pitch (although there was a record-breaking goal scored) as off it, particularly thanks to Boca's barra brava and River's manager, who both made fools of themselves on, admittedly, slightly different scales. Sam was at Argentinos Juniors to watch Lanús retake leadership of the Torneo Final, helped a couple of days after their own match by two fine goals from Arsenal's Darío Benedetto which downed Newell's Old Boys. Independiente might be going down, but they're going down kicking and screaming at least, and we've got some awful puns for you. Enjoy.

In the hundred-and-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel have a running order for once, in an effort to get the show's length down below an hour and a half. They succeed by a matter of seconds; don't worry folks, we'll get better at this, we promise. We discuss Independiente and Estudiantes finally winning matches, Boca Juniors equalling their worst ever domestic run (since we recorded, they've beaten Corinthians in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores tie), Newell's going out on their own at the top of the league and much more, including a preview of this weekend's superclásico between Boca and River Plate in La Bombonera. Enjoy.

The hundred-and-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan welcome Joel back from his holiday, and the three are joined by Santiago again. We're also reunited with Australian Dan, making a brief return to say hello and to resurrect Mystic Dan as a late marker of HOP's 100th edition last week. We talk about some major refereeing controversies in four different matches at the weekend, the tightening title race (the top two are now level, and third placed River Plate are just two points further back) and ask whether Boca Juniors might be gradually showing signs of life, as well as Argentina's representatives in the Copa Libertadores, the knockout stage of which began on Wednesday evening as this episode was being uploaded. Enjoy.

Hand Of Pod is one hundred episodes old. And we're celebrating in style; recording in an almost silent flat, with current and former regulars and guests. Sam, English Dan, Seba, Asli and Mariano are joined on Skype by Ed Malyon (Aussie Dan and Joel sadly couldn't make it this week) for a podcasting landmark, and we've got plenty to discuss. Independiente unveiled a new manager, and the day after he was appointed he was held up at gunpoint and robbed... whilst conducting a radio interview on his mobile phone! Boca Juniors fell to one of the worst defeats in their history on Saturday, Lanús lead the league by two points ahead of Newell's Old Boys, and there's a lot, lot, lot more besides. We hope you enjoy this bumper edition, and we'd all like to thank our listeners very much for your support. Not too many independent, non-English-league-focussed podcasts get to be 100 episodes old. So, here's to the next hundred!

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.

In the ninety-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are introduced by World Cup final referee Horacio Elizondo, and joined by guest star Archie Whitworth for a bumper edition - there's a lot to get through. We discuss the thrillers and fine goals scored during a weekend which left Lanús' lead atop the Torneo Final cut to just one point over Newell's Old Boys, question just how bad Independiente striker Juan Caicedo can get, and spend a good length of time talking about San Lorenzo goalkeeper Pablo Migliore, who was arrested after his side's defeat to Newell's on Sunday for his part in harbouring a friend suspected of murder. We answer listeners' questions and talk about River Plate's injury problems in defence and how they've affected the team's building forward, and much more. Enjoy.

In the ninety-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined (eventually) by Daniel Schweimler, another Englishman in Buenos Aires, who runs the Hand Of Dan blog looking at Argentine society through the prism of life on the terraces of Argentinos Juniors. We discuss Argentina's impressive World Cup qualifying results (a 3-0 win over Venezuela followed by a 1-1 draw away to Bolivia) in reverse order, before briefly previewing a weekend packed full of clásicos - not least Guest Dan's Argentinos v All Boys. Listener's questions range from Argentinos Juniors to, um, Argentina's senior national team. What variety.

In the ninety-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined by Henry May, founding president and former centre back of Huracan FC London, possibly the world's most famous London Sunday league side. We discuss All Boys' 100th anniversary (and their lovely, lovely commemorative shirts), Lanús' three point lead in the league, Independiente's ongoing woes and the chances of Unión actually surviving - surely not...? We also discuss some bizarre refereeing decisions, and preview Argentina's two upcoming World Cup qualifiers, at home to Venezuela on Friday night and away to Bolivia next Tuesday afternoon. And all four us have a go at predicting how those matches will go. (Note: since recording it's become apparent Oswaldo Vizcarrondo has been upgraded from 'out for three weeks' to... perfectly fit to play this Friday. Hmm.)

In the ninety-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel toast the world's first Latin American pontiff with a fernet (mate in Joel's case) even though none of us are Catholic, and discuss what his installment in the Vatican hot seat could mean for the immediate future of his favourite football team, San Lorenzo de Almagro (yes, really). Then we get a bit more serious and discuss Boca Juniors' continuing travails, Lanús' and Godoy Cruz's good start to 2013, River Plate's recovery from their loss to San Lorenzo in round 4 by beating Colón this last weekend, and plenty more, including lots of lovely listeners' questions. Enjoy.

The ninety-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Joel reunited after a few weeks, to discuss a goal-filled weekend which saw San Lorenzo beat River Plate in the clásico, Lanús claim a point away to Dan's Racing which took them top of the table, and Boca Juniors hilariously crash and burn at home to Unión on the day of Juan Román Riquelme's comeback. There were two 3-3 draws, a policeman hitting a player in the face with a baton (and then reporting the player for assault!), and the announcement that Gerardo Martino won't be staying on as Newell's Old Boys boss at the end of the season - will Marcelo Bielsa be returning to replace him? The very thought has got us all excited...

Episode 93 sees English Dan appearing briefly by Skype, due to food poisoning - or maybe he was just too ashamed to show up in person after his side failed to turn up against Independiente in last weekend's clásico de Avellaneda, losing 2-0. Sam is joined by real-life Arsenal de Sarandí fan Santiago, who fortunately caught most of the weekend's action, and we discuss his team's away win over Argentinos Juniors, what Gabriel Schurrer's exit as manager could mean for Argentinos, and River Plate's amazing 3-2 thriller over Tigre, as well as a lot more besides. And if you've ever wondered why Arsenal have a tower on their club badge, here's the HOP episode where you find out. Enjoy.

In the ninety-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan are joined by Mariano the San Lorenzo fan to discuss a Torneo Final second round with one outstanding result; ten-man Independiente's shock victory over champions Vélez Sarsfield. Away from Liniers, there were wins for both Lanús and River Plate, who go joint top of the nascent Final table, a win against Racing, inspired by Luciano Vietto, which sends both clubs into the clásico de Avellaneda this coming weekend in good spirits, and a draw for Mariano's San Lorenzo which we discuss, as well as asking him for his thoughts on Viggo Mortensen's charity flower seeds, and an update on the Return To Boedo (which is San Lorenzo's plan to buy back the land their old stadium stood on, not another Lord Of The Rings film).

In the ninety-first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel look back on an opening weekend of Torneo Final action that Sam and Joel thoroughly enjoyed, and which English Dan missed almost all of. We discuss an unconvincing win for Vélez Sarsfield as they seek to defend their title, and rather more emphatic victories for Tigre and Lanús, among others. Joel attended a thriller in La Bombonera, as Juan Román Riquelme returned to the stands and Carlos Bianchi to the managerial bench and Boca came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, with one of several stunning long range goals this weekend. All this and much more - enjoy.

In the ninetieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Joel preview the 2013 Torneo Final, which kicks off with Unión hosting Arsenal de Sarandí on Friday evening. We discuss Fernando Gago's move to Vélez Sarsfield - easily the most spectacular signing of the summer - and what Vélez's chances are of retaining their title, as well as talking about Racing's transfer window departures, River Plate's relative success and most of the other ins and outs, before moving on - we couldn't very well avoid him - to the interminable saga of Juan Román Riquelme's ever changing mood. Will he play for Boca? Will he play for Tigre? Should we really care any more? After that, we answer listeners' questions on Argentine sides in the 2013 Copa Libertadores and more.

Hand Of Pod is back, and Sam, Joel and English Dan welcome 2013 with a nice laid-back chat about nothing in particular. There's just the news that one of the most powerful men in world football will leave his charge of the AFA in 2015, a bunch of (admittedly often tiresome) transfer gossip from the summer and various other issues to mop up, including the ongoing saga of where (or whether) Juan Román Riquelme will be playing his football this year; could it be Tigre, now that they're in the group stages of the Copa Libertadores for the first time? We discuss River Plate's and Boca Juniors' pre-seasons, as well as those of the other big boys, confusing goings-on surrounding Ricky Centurión's transfer from Racing to Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, Argentina's latest Under-20 failure, and a lot more. It's good to be back.

The eighty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is the last one of 2012, and sees Sam, Dan and Joel analysing Vélez Sarsfield's 2012 Torneo Inicial title win, which was confirmed on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Unión de Santa Fe whilst nearest challengers Lanús lost 1-0 away to River Plate. The roles of manager Ricardo Gareca and forward Facundo Ferreyra are discussed, as well as some of Vélez's other crucial players during the campaign. We also talk about Ramón Díaz's welcome back to River, whether any current Primera managers are future contenders for the national team job, and look back at San Lorenzo's 2-1 win over Independiente in the weekend's big relegation clash.

One subject looms large over this week's (belated) episode of Hand Of Pod, the eighty-seventh since we started. Sam, English Dan and Joel discuss Ramón Díaz's emotional return to the club he loves and which loves him, River Plate, after Matías Almeyda was fired in the extremely early hours of Wednesday morning/late hours of Tuesday night. What Díaz's return means for River, whether Almeyda really deserved the sack and more. We also discuss Vélez Sarsfield, who could win the title on Sunday afternoon, and whether their boss Ricardo Gareca is really the Argentine Sir Alex Ferguson, as some in the Argentine media would have us believe. There's an appreciation of Tigre - who hours after recording reached the Copa Sudamericana final, the first continental final in their history - and listeners' questions ranging from Sam's ideal River starting XI to who Julio César Falcioni's replacement as Boca Juniors manager might be. Enjoy.

This week's Hand Of Pod is the eighty-sixth episode, and as Seba rightly points out early on, eighty-six is an important number for Argentine football, not least for being the year which saw the event from which we take our name. Sam, Joel and Seba discuss an ever-tightening title race, a thrilling showing from Racing's young forward trio, more crowd trouble at Independiente and at the Santa Fe derby over the weekend, before explaining why San Lorenzo's move back to their historic home of Boedo has repercussions far beyond football in Argentine society. As if all this wasn't thrilling enough, we have a bit of a chat about River Plate's latest financial results. It's gripping stuff.

The eighty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees us turn two years old, and to celebrate the fact that we're still here we recorded in Seba's very plush office. We discuss the likelihood of Juan Román Riquelme returning to action for Boca Juniors in the new year, and some of the local league action - but not much, since we were recording part way through the midweek round of matches - and the Argentine national team's drab performance away to Saudi Arabia hours before we recorded. During our listeners' Q&A session, crowd trouble caused Independiente v Belgrano to be abandoned, and we have some 'as live' coverage of that. Thrilling stuff as ever. Thanks for listening for the last two years, and here's to two more...

In the eighty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined again by that doyen of football journalism, Jonathan Wilson to look back on an eventful weekend in the Torneo Inicial title race which saw Newell's Old Boys' lead at the top cut to just one point ahead of Vélez Sarsfield, and two ahead of major surprise package Belgrano de Córdoba. We look at impressive performances from youngsters Leandro Paredes (Boca Juniors) and Facundo 'Chucky' Ferreyra (Vélez), and answer listeners' questions ranging from how many languages Mr Wilson speaks to Julio César Falcioni's greatest achievement as Boca Juniors manager. And we completely ignore the Supercopa Argentina, which was being played as we recorded (Arsenal de Sarandí beat Boca Juniors on penalties after a 0-0 draw, in case you care).

In the eighty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Joel are joined by Jonathan Wilson, who helps us review Sunday's superclásico, which ended in a 2-2 draw between River Plate and Boca Juniors thanks to a late equaliser from Julio César Falcioni's teacher's pet Walter Erviti. We also look at Newell's Old Boys' win over champions Arsenal de Sarandí, and at Racing's away loss to Vélez Sarsfield, who are now second, three points behind Newell's. All this, and listeners' questions ranging from the national team to why you should keep watching Argentine football in spite of some horrendous crowd trouble in the Boca end on Sunday.

In the eighty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan, Joel and Ed run their critical eyes over the biggest clash of last weekend, Racing v Newell's (2nd v 1st), and explain why we enjoyed it even though many who weren't there thought it wasn't such a great game on TV. We discuss the continued development of an interesting title race, before moving on to the biggest match of the year in Argentina: the return of the superclásico after River Plate's year in the second division. We preview River v Boca Juniors - which will be played on Sunday afternoon - and talk about the history and some of the reasons it's become the biggest fixture in the country. Enjoy.

The eighty-first episode of Hand Of Pod is another bumper one, with a look back on Argentina's 3-0 dispatching of Uruguay last Friday and Tuesday's hard-fought 2-1 win away to Chile, as well as the main World Cup qualifying results in the rest of the CONMEBOL region, including an impressive Radamel Falcao García- and James Rodríguez-inspired win over Paraguay for Colombia. We then move on to the domestic scene, where the main story is Juan Antonio Pizzi's confirmation as San Lorenzo manager, before answering a veritable barrage of listeners' questions. Next week: the superclásico preview. Enjoy!

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.

The sixtieth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan and Dan discuss Boca Juniors' narrow lead in the Clausura, thanks to a spectacular Santiago Silva effort last weekend, and Racing's pitiful performance away to Lanús last weekend. We also give the Copa Argentina a once-over, now that all four quarter-finals are known, and discuss Argentina's sides in the Copa Libertadores, before moving on to listeners' questions which range from books on Argentine football and culture to Argentina's WAG culture. This was recorded on Wednesday but not uploaded until now because Sam, who does the production and uploading, hasn't been well. Sorry.

The fifty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod features Sam, Dan, Dan and special guest, Turkish TV presenter Asli Pelit, cover an increasingly tight title race; Only two points separate the top six teams, with Boca Juniors and Newell's Old Boys the sides in the driving seat - for now. San Martín de San Juan have changed managers, and former Fulham striker Facundo Sava is the man now in the hot seat for his first job in management. Also as we were talking, the AFA were voting on a league restructure. The relegation system described herein has since been confirmed, but the short championships will remain for next season. As usual, we answer your questions, and this week Mystic Dan is handing over the reins to Asli, and allowing her to predict what will happen this weekend. She gives us reasons and everything.

The fifty-eighth episode of Hand Of Pod is a bumper edition. Not only do we have both Seba and Joel Richards on the same pod for the first time since their short-lived Enganche podcast with Sam four years ago (which spawned the idea for Hand Of Pod when Sam moved to Buenos Aires), but Dan and Dan are both with us as well, and we've got plenty to discuss. Independiente thrashed Racing in the clásico on Saturday, after which Racing striker Teo Gutiérrez almost went postal, Boca Juniors players got into a fight with Tigre fans which left Santiago Silva with fractured fingers, San Martín v Vélez was called off with five minutes left, Racing and Godoy Cruz bade farewell to their managers, and River Plate fans courted controversy with some racist t-shirts. All this and more on the best Argentine football podcast around. Enjoy.

Episode 57 of Hand Of Pod is a long 'un, because Sam, English Dan and Seba have a derby to preivew. It doesn't help, then, that Seba has decided he's going to watch QPR instead of Racing on Saturday morning. We look at the roles of both managers going into Saturday's Avellaneda derby between Independiente and Racing, and also at Tigre's slump in form, the qualifications of Boca Juniors and Vélez Sarsfield in the Copa Libertadores and of Tigre and River Plate in the Copa Argentina, and answer your questions on everything from Pablo Mouche, Jorge Sampaoli, Gerardo Martino, Arsenal de Sarandí and Club Atlético Douglas Haig (yes, there really is such a club). Australian Dan will return next week.

The fifty-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan and Dan discussing Independiente's win over Rafaela last weekend, Racing's defeat away to Newell's Old Boys, Boca Juniors once again topping the Clausura table and more, including the extraordinary start to David Trezeguet's spell at River Plate. San Lorenzo changed managers this week (we recorded just before Ricardo Caruso Lombardi was confirmed as the new man) and Aussie Dan has a bit of a rant about clubs' lack of imagination when appointing new bosses. Paulo Dybala gets a mention again, and there are more live questions, since that was so much fun to do last week. Mystic Dan isn't trying to predict exact scorelines again, sadly.

The fifty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan, Seba and Dan meet again to discuss yet more crisis in the business of Avellaneda's two giant clubs, Racing and Independiente, as well as how Newell's Old Boys and Estudiantes were the big winners of last weekend. We run the rule over another great performance for second division starlet Paulo Dybala, talk about the 'Law of The Ex', one of the Argentine football media's favourite curses, and when all appears to be heading towards a most disorganised conclusion, answer some listeners' questions tweeted DURING THE PODCAST. This is revolutionary stuff, right here. Also, Mystic Dan's being even dafter than usual this week, and has actually tried to predict exact scorelines for the eight round of the Clausura.

The fifty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod takes in quite a lot. We begin with Colón's highly controversial equaliser against San Lorenzo at the weekend, a goal which will see referee Diego Abal miss at least a couple of rounds of the Torneo Clausura. After getting some of the weekend Primera scores mixed up, we then take in the revival in the fortunes of both Avellaneda sides in the last two weeks, Tigre's climb out of the automatic relegation places for the first time this season, and discuss whether Estudiantes are finally back, and whether Racing at last have a high enough arsehole quotient in their squad. As well as all this we ask whether Atlético Rafaela and Godoy Cruz are losing it, run a fine-toothed comb over hot European transfer targets Paulo Dybala and Matías Suárez, and discuss why everyone suddenly seems to want Argentine second division players anyway. There's even time for Seba to insult us, when we were only trying to help him with his English.

The fifty-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Seba return along with Sam, Dan and Dan, and a special guest appearance from football journalist, author and editor of The Blizzard (www.theblizzard.co.uk), Jonathan Wilson. Topics up for discussion include Boca Juniors' two straight defeats (after an eleven-month unbeaten run), Racing suddenly clicking against All Boys, and how Lionel Messi's brilliance is so consistent we've almost stopped fully appreciating it. Jonathan has a bit of a rant about Juan Román Riquelme, we consider the tactics being used by Alejandro Sabella for the national team, and much more. Enjoy.

The fifty-second episode of Hand Of Pod begins with Sam, Dan and Dan in discussion of Diego Sosa's ridiculous own goal which gifted Estudiantes a win over San Martín last weekend, and continues to take in topics including a double managerial sending-off in the Santa Fe derby, River Plate's latest league result in the second division and Tigre's increasingly impressive battle against relegation, which just might start to look possible if results this coming weekend go the way Mystic Dan predicts. Racing are still rubbish, so for a change we don't spend too long on them this week. Oh, and this week's episode was recorded a few hours before Boca Juniors' 11-month unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end. Enjoy.

The fifty-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees the end of a bit of a break in recording, so it's a bumper edition. Seba is once again, lamentably, unable to attend, but Sam, Dan and Dan are joined by the one and only Joel Richards to bring some sobriety to proceedings. Topics up for discussion include just how high up Argentina's pantheon Lionel Messi will continue to rise, why on earth Boca Juniors are being allowed to use Santiago Silva in league matches all of a sudden, the start of a golden era for Avellaneda football (that's sarcasm, in case you were wondering), why Argentine women's football isn't more visible, and much more. We should be back to something like a normal schedule as from next week.

The fiftieth episode of Hand Of Pod is a weekend release as we weren't able to record earlier in the week. In it, we look back over an interesting first round of matches in the 2012 Torneo Clausura, and also consider Godoy Cruz, Lanús and Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores in midweek. Lanús, Rafaela and Boca started well with wins, San Lorenzo were dire, and Racing (in the eyes of Sam and Australian Dan) were pretty poor. English Dan disagrees on that last point, of course. We also discuss the Argentines at Catania, and some others abroad, including new Everton cult hero Denis Stracqualursi's recent upturn in form. Thanks to all our listeners for helping us to fifty episodes (we wouldn't have bothered if you weren't paying attention), and we hope you enjoy the next fifty as well!

The forty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is the 2012 Torneo Clausura preview edition, and we begin with a brief discussion of the title name of this year's competition, which has attracted really far more controversy than it merits in the British press. We then move on through our predictions for the next five months, to end by likening each club in the Argentine Primera (including a little-known, easily forgotten side called Boca Something-or-other) to a film genre. In between we discuss the key summer transfers, how much trouble San Lorenzo and Tigre are in and more. Enjoy.

The 48th episode of Hand Of Pod is another summer special for 2012. In it, Seba tells us about the foundation and history of one of the Argentine lower divisions' biggest and most traditional clubs, Platense, who are the club David Trezeguet cut his teeth at. From there we take a diversion through other Argentine clubs and why they're called what they are, in another shortened episode to help you warm up for what's to come in the Clausura. Enjoy.

English Dan is on holiday, but fear not, Dan lovers! The forty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod - and the first of our summer 2012 specials - features two Dans all the same. And what's more, for the first time ever, BOTH of them are Australian! This won't be at all confusing. Sam and Australian Dan are joined by Dan Cappellaro, a futsal player from Perth who's in Buenos Aires on trial with Deportivo Caseros, one of Argentina's top futsal teams. He tells us how he got noticed by them, compares Argentina's football culture with Australia's, and asks us just why Argentina is so crazy about football. It's a short episode, but a sweet one to whet your appetite for the year ahead. Enjoy.

In the forty-sixth epsiode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Seba and English Dan look back on the 2011 Torneo Apertura, which ended on Monday. Boca Juniors ended as undefeated champions, and the champions with the most points difference ahead of the team(s) in second place. We look at Boca's record, Racing's underwhelming campaign, Tigre's ongoing woe and Godoy Cruz's joy at their Copa Libertadores qualification. There's the Hand Of Pod Team Of The Apertura (well, most of it) and a whole glut of readers' questions on everything from the structure of the league to Racing's 1967 Intercontinental Cup win over Celtic. This is the last Hand Of Pod of 2011, so Merry Christmas to all, and a happy new year. We'll see you in 2012.

The forty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is introduced by Queens Park Rangers star Alejandro Faurlín, and sees Sam, Seba and English Dan reflecting on Boca Juniors' title win - the media bias, the key players, the impressive record and more. We reflect on Racing's failure to satisfactorily challenge them, Teo Gutiérrez's chances of getting a transfer to Europe, the political machinations behind the postponement of San Lorenzo v Tigre and the challenges awaiting Tigre during the coming Clausura. There's an aside on the stupidity of the three different tables used in Argentina to decide the title, continental qualification and relegation, and we also talk about River Plate's 'hilarious' weekend loss to Boca Unidos and subsequent midweek recovery in the Copa Argentina. We finish with a fairytale story from the Copa, about the president of fourth division Atlético Policial, who on Wednesday beat Nacional B (second division) leaders Instituto 4-1.

The forty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba discussing the reasons for Boca Juniors' title win, which will almost definitely happen this coming weekend since their win at Godoy Cruz took them nine points clear with nine to play for. Leandro 'Vegetable' Somoza is praised, Cristian Chávez and Pablo Mouche are criticised. Elsewhere, there was an entertaining match involving Racing, for a change, and they finally lost, 3-2 at home to Belgrano. Seba Verón scored possibly his last goal as Estudiantes beat Arsenal 201, and we praise Tigre for their great campaign so far. We also have a Hand Of Pod first - an interview with Emiliano Tade, a forward playing for Auckland City FC in New Zealand, who'll be one of six Argentines featuring in the Club World Cup in Japan, which starts next week. Enjoy.

In the forty-third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba begin with a look at Juan Sebastián Verón's stand against Estudiantes' barra brava, who on Monday caused their match with Banfield to be abandoned after only thirteen minutes. We then move on to talk about Boca Juniors' 0-0 draw with Racing on Sunday, a result that edges Boca a tiny bit closer to the league title, and Racing striker Teo Gutiérrez's idiocy in getting himself sent off, and the effect it's likely to have on Racing's squad for the rest of the season. Sam mentions River Plate's first ever competitive match in Patagonia (a 4-1 win away to Guillermo Brown of Puerto Madryn), we talk about San Lorenzo's woes as they change managers, and after Mystic Dan's predictions we close with a discussion of media bias towards the two giants, and especially Boca.

In the forty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, we turn one year old (well, it was a few days ago). To mark the occasion, we're joined by Joel Richards, and Seba, clearly afraid of being shown up, has scarpered. We discuss a disappointing result for Argentina against Bolivia, a very good result for Argentina against Colombia, and what it means for certain players (we're looking at you, Martín Demichelis...). Joel also does a fine job of justifying José Sosa's existe- sorry, place in the national side. We then shift our focus to the upcoming weekend, which sees first play second in La Bombonera. If Boca win against Racing, they'll need just a point to claim the title. All this, plus another rant about the organisation of the Copa Argentina (a tournament Hand Of Pod is leading the world's media in covering, pretty much). What more could you want?

The forty-first episode of Hand Of Pod is introduced by a real-life professional Argentine footballer, Crystal Palace goalkeeper Julián Speroni. After his dulcet tones, we discuss Boca Juniors' continuing march to the league title, and Racing's first win in six matches on Saturday night, as well as other weekend action including a hideous broken leg at Unión, and a derby win for Lanús (which means they need just a point to completely ensure qualification for next year's Copa Libertadores). Attention then shifts to the upcoming round of World Cup qualifiers and Alejandro Sabella's squad selection, which is starting to annoy us a bit. Towards the end, Ralph Hannah tells us about why he's going to be meeting Paraguay and Vélez legend José Luis Chilavert on Friday, and we discuss some of the great man's finest moments (you'll find a couple of videos on the HOP blog, http://handofpod.wordpress.com).

Hand Of Pod turns 40 episodes old this week, and once again we're discussing violence (at Newell's Old Boys' weekend match) and the threat of it (at Boca Juniors). From the latter, we seamlessly segue into talking about Boca Juniors' huge lead in the Torneo Apertura, which has now stretched to nine points with just eighteen to play for. Some of that is because Racing are endeavouring to become the first ever side to go unbeaten through a league campaign whilst being really, really rubbish, and Diego Simeone, their manager, comes in for criticism for that. We field questions on Arsenal de Sarandí's Copa Sudamericana chances, Javier Pastore's future importance to the national team, and whether Juan Román Riquelme will marry one of our listeners. Sam also gives his opinion on John Terry, who we're assuming isn't a regular listener.

There's been violence in the air in Argentine football this week, and it's infected us at Hand Of Pod. Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba begin this week's podcast with a discussion of which San Lorenzo players we'd fancy our changes against in a fight, and move on to discuss World Cup winner Mauro Camoranesi - the most patriotic Italian who ever lived - kicking Racing's Patricio Toranzo in the face during a game. As well as this, we wonder whether anyone can stop Boca Juniors as they storm towards their first title in ages, discuss the Panamerican Games (not just the football tournament) briefly, and look at both the Copa Argentina draw and (silly) format, and Alejandro Sabella's squad for the next World Cup qualifying double-header against Bolivia and Colombia.

Julio Grondona was named Argentine FA President for another four years as we recorded this episode, a development slightly more inevitable than the sun rising tomorrow. Sam, Seba, Dan and Dan look into the reasons behind FIFA Vice-President Grondona's grip on Argentine football (by 2015 he'll have been AFA President for 36 years), and why a hidden camera sting which caught him boasting about bribes and much more the day before the elections had no effect. We also run the rule over Lucas Ocampos, River Plate's 17-year-old star who's reportedly wanted by Chelsea, consider Boca Juniors' options in replacing injured forward Lucas Viatri, and look at Independiente's slowly improving form, before embarrassing ourselves by trying to list, off the tops of our heads, every football club whose stadium lies within the City of Buenos Aires.

In the thirty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Seba discuss Argentina's mixed start to World Cup qualifying, which began with a 4-1 thrashing of Chile and continued with a surprise defeat at the hands of Venezuela. What positives can Argentina take from the former, and what lessons can Sabella learn from the latter? As well as that, we give an update on the Copa Argentina - whose qualifying stage has now finished - and, with no Primera action to look back on due to the international break, Sam reviews a brilliant couple of matches for River Plate in the Nacional B, including a 7-1 win. Oh, and we fill in for Aussie Dan by reading out his predictions in dreadful Australian accents at the end.

In episode 36 of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba are joined by Asli Pellit and her lovely new (and very quiet) dog Vinicius. We discuss Asli's trips to Córdoba and Porto Alegre, on the latter of which she met and interviewed Andrés D'Alessandro, as well as the reasons Brazil's championship is better off than Argentina's at present. We look back on the Avellaneda clásico on Sunday which saw a 1-1 draw between Racing and Independiente, and argue about whether it's a boring league season or not. As well as this, Aussie Dan and Sam consider Ferro v River last Saturday, and we look forward to the start of the South American World Cup Qualifiers, which will be more competitive than ever this time round. Enjoy.

In the thirty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba begin with a discussion of just how much of a massive idiot Carlos Tevez is, and conclude with a reflection on Cristian Fabbiani's suitability for the second division in Argentina. In between we discuss Wednesday night's Brazil v Argentina friendly second leg, Seba wishes death on Diego Maradona (sort of), we wonder whether anyone can catch Boca Juniors at the top of the league, ponder San Lorenzo's problems in the relegation zone and remark on what a lovely little player Olimpo number 10 Martín Rolle is. This weekend sees the clásico de Avellaneda between Racing and Independiente, and we also preview that, as well as answering a listener's question on former Racing and Vélez Sarsfield star Maxi Moralez, now with Atalanta in Italy. Enjoy.

Alejandro Sabella has named his first competitive Argentina squad, in preparation for the big kick off at home to Chile early next month. In the thirty-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba discuss that, as well as a lot more. Boca Juniors top the Apertura table, whilst Lanús have fallen away; we wonder whether Atlético Rafaela really can last the distance, English Dan tells us of a lost virgin in Colón (stop sniggering), and we talk about the organisation of the brand-spanking-new Copa Argentina, and the influence of the infamous barra bravas on Argentine football. All this and more is right here for your listening pleasure.

The thirty-third episode of Hand Of Pod goes online just before the first leg of the double-header between Argentina's and Brazil's 'domestic international' teams, and Sam, Dan and Dan look at what Alejandro Sabella might reveal in these matches. We also speculate on how well former Oxford United boss Ramón Díaz will do in charge of Independiente, discuss bearded footballers (inspired by Diego Villar of Godoy Cruz) and give a thoroughly well-considered zoological discussion of the upcoming clash between joint-top of the table sides Lanús and Boca Juniors. The stupidity of Racing's Colombian players in their goal celebrations is criticised, and we liken Racing to a herd of wildebeest. If the producers of the Discovery Channel are listening this week, do get in touch.

In the thirty-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Seba and Dan have plenty to get their teeth stuck into. Alejandro Sabella's first two matches as Argentina boss are incisively dissected, and the conclusion is cautious optimism. Moving to the domestic side of things, the role of Independiente's barra brava in ousting now ex-manager Antonio Mohamed is considered (since we recorded, Ramón Díaz has emerged as the favourite to take over), as is Gio Moreno's long-awaited return from injury for Racing. There's an update on how Nacional B is treating River Plate, and Seba goes a bit doolally at the end and starts making some funny noises, including an impersonation of River striker Fernando Cavenaghi. Enjoy.

In the latest episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and the Dans discuss Denis Stracqualursi, and what Everton fans can expect from him in the Premier League, and an interesting weekend of Torneo Apertura matches which saw the championship finally get going properly. We talk about Ricardo La Volpe's possible return to Banfield (he's since been confirmed as the new manager there), Alejandro Sabella's possible first-ever Argentina starting XI, some animal nicknames which may or may not be used for Argentine players, and Gio Moreno's probable return to the Racing team (via the subs' bench) this coming weekend, among other subjects. Enjoy.

This week's Hand Of Pod is a sensible length, so rejoice! Sam, Australian Dan and Seba meet again, and there are plenty of hot topics to get through. Santiago Silva has left Vélez Sarsfield for Fiorentina, seriously damaging the champions' title defence. We discuss the relative economic strengths of the Argentine league with Europe (and Brazil), a listener asks why Estudiantes are so rubbish, we admire Racing's tenacity under Diego Simeone, and talk about the return of visiting fans to the second division (Nacional B) after Independiente Rivadavia's president forced the AFA's hand in his club's match against River Plate at the weekend. There's also a call for your feedback on the pod (please send suggestions to sam [at] hastaelgolsiempre [dot] com), and a mention for an excellent new(ish) online football magazine, Man And Ball, whose second issue includes an Argentina-inspired piece of fiction.

The twenty-ninth episode of Hand Of Pod is, as the milkmaid said to the parson, quite a whopper. That's largely because Sam, Australian Dan and Seba have not one but two rounds of Torneo Apertura matches to look back on, as well as River Plate's historic debut in the Nacional B (second division). There's more, though; before we can even get onto that, we've got - like those Apertura rounds - not one but two Argentina squads to discuss, with Alejandro Sabella having named both a full national team and a domestically-based side to take on Brazil. Carlos Tevez's exclusion from the former, Juan Román Riquelme's and Seba Verón's inclusion in the latter, the new boys' early performances in the Primera and the start of Vélez Sarsfield's title defence; all this and much more is covered. And next week's will be a more sensible length. We promise.

Hand Of Pod's two resident Racing fans are both on holiday this week, but Sam and Australian Dan are battling on, insistent that their partners' absence is but a flesh wound, and are joined by the one and only Joel Richards, who does a sterling job of patching the bleeding. On the menu is a discussion of practically every team in the Primera División this season, as well as the AFA's U-turn on last week's planned expansion of the top flight to 38 teams, Alejandro Sabella's appointment as Argentina manager, the unveiling (at last!) of the Best Argentine Abroad of 2010-11 according to our listeners, and more. Mystic Dan's predictions are back for the new season, and are as ever over on the Hand Of Pod blog (handofpod.wordpress.com). We've also got a juicy video of Marcos Angeleri for the ladies, and a video to Sam's best friend's latest YouTube uploads. Nick Ball is the composer of the HOP theme tune as well as a professional musician, composer and producer, and has recently put up a few videos demonstrating techniques from 1910s and '20s ragtime drumming. It seems only fair that we help spread the word, not least because most of our listeners seem to prefer the music to the actual pod...

The twenty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod is our look back on an eventful and historic Copa América Argentina 2011, and Sam, the Dans and Seba are joined by award-winning author, journalist and editor and co-founder of The Blizzard, Jonathan Wilson, who shares his thoughts on the tournament with us over some fernet and empanadas. Jonathan gives us a tactical breakdown of why Brazil's defence isn't what it once was, why Argentina will never be able to replicate Barcelona, and we discuss the importance of silly hair to the Argentine footballing psyche. There are players of the tournament, praise for Uruguay and their brilliant manager Óscar Washington Tabárez, and Mister Wilson's thoughts prior to the World Youth Cup, which he's since travelled on to Colombia to cover. And of course, we kick it all of by discussing the AFA's frankly ludicrous plans for the Primera División. We couldn't ignore that.

The end of season special of Hand Of Pod is an epic - an hour and three quarters - for which I apologise, but there's good reason: South American football broadcasting legend Tim Vickery was talking to us in person over a glass (okay, several glasses) of wine, and dinner. We discuss River Plate's relegation, where 'Tricky' Ricky Álvarez could fit into Arsenal's system (if of course he does go there), our favourite players of the Torneo Clausura just gone, and the differences between Pelé and Diego Maradona as players, as well as looking forward to the upcoming Copa América. Enjoy.

The final installment of Hand Of Pod's Copa América preview special editions is here! Recorded a week ago, the HOP team discuss the hopes of the host nation and most people's tournament favourites, Argentina. It's eighteen years since the last Argentine triumph, so can Lionel Messi, Javier Zanetti and company finally end the wait for a title? Seba gives us his thoughts and fears as an Argentine fan, and suggests a way that Brazil could be countered, and at the end we all give our predictions, so you can laugh when we're all proved wrong as Ecuador and Peru face off in the final. The Copa kicks off this Friday; here's what you need to know about the hosts.

There's only one topic for this week's Hand Of Pod, and we make no apologies for that. Dan, Dan, Seba and River fan Sam try to make some sense of what none of us quite thought would come to pass: the news that River Plate endured the worst day in their 110-year history on Saturday, and will have to play the playoff against Belgrano de Córdoba to avoid relegation. Who's to blame? And how do the playoffs work? There's also praise for a magnificent afternoon's league action on Saturday, and Sam has a rant at Twitter. It's all cathartic.

In this Copa América special preview edition of Hand Of Pod, English Dan and Sam are joined via Skype by Nicholas Rosano, of Goal.com and SouthAmericanFootball.co.uk, who discusses Uruguay's cautious optimism, tactics, and chances in the tournament with us, as well as telling us who else to look out for aside from Edison Cavani, Diego Forlán and Luis Suárez. We also find a few minutes to discuss Peñarol's 0-0 draw with Santos in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores, ahead of this Wednesday night's second leg.

In the 24th episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan discuss Vélez's title win on Sunday, and offer their commiserations to Lanús. Sam gives an impromptu history lesson about Alumni, the first side to dominate the Argentine top flight, English Dan tells us about an amazing comeback from Godoy Cruz away to Racing, and we take a look at the weekend to come, when five games will be played at the same time due to the relegation situation. There's praise for Godoy's Mariano Donda and Huracán's Javier Cámpora, and we end by looking at Martín Palermo's highly, um, moving farewell to La Bombonera.

In the third of our special Copa América previews, the Hand Of Pod crew welcome Caetano to English Dan's Caballito abode, and much hilarity ensues. He endears himself to the listeners of this Argentine football-based podcast by slagging off Argentine football (well, he is Brazilian), and at one point actually kicks our resident Argentine, Seba (though this sadly wasn't picked up by the dictaphone). Ahead of this week's first leg of the Copa Libertadores final, we also get a few brief thoughts from Caetano, who's a Santos fan. Click play to find out more about the defending Copa América champions, and how they've changed under Mano Menezes since Dunga left as manager following last year's World Cup.

In the 23rd episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Seba and Dan return to guide our listeners into the closing rounds of the Torneo Clausura. We cover the Nigeria v Argentina match last week which is being investigated by FIFA, Sam suggests Daniel Passarella might like to sell his body to help fund River Plate's transfers this winter, and Seba learns a couple of new English words. English Dan teaches us about a Mexican hairless dog, and Australian Dan gets all mystic on us as usual. Oh, and we talk about some football as well! Vélez and Lanús are left fighting it out for the Clausura crown with two games to go (thouh Vélez exited the Copa Libertadores last week), and River are sweating on relegation. All this and much more lies in wait...

In this second special edition of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Australian Dan (sorry, Daniel Colasimone) are joined from across the Andes by the voice of lovely Chilean journalist Cecilia Lagos. She fills us in on her nation's hopes for the 2011 Copa América, what she thinks of former Boca Juniors manager Claudio Borghi as Marcelo Bielsa's replacement, and tells us of a positively John Terry-esque scandal involving national team stars Mauricio Pinilla and Luis Jiménez. We also ask her about European transfer hot property Alexis Sánchez, and how likely he is to shine in the Copa.

This week in Hand Of Pod, Sam, Seba, Dan and Dan give their opinions on Javier Mascherano's sterling job at centre back in recent weeks for new European champions Barcelona, and discuss whether he might also be a good option in the role for Argentina. We run the rule over Carlos Tevez and the other names in Argentina's Copa América squad - announced right before we started recording - and consider the latests developments in the domestic league as usual. We also want your votes in a poll to find the man our listeners feel has been the best Argentine in a foreign league during 2010-11. Please send them (just the one each, please) to [email protected]. We've suggested a few names for you, but the list is by no means limiting.

In a special edition of Hand Of Pod, Sam and the Dans are joined by Ralph Hannah, an English expert on Paraguayan football who was kind enough to drop in on us when visiting Buenos Aires with his wife for the weekend from Asunción. We discuss Paraguay's chances in the forthcoming Copa América, who the key players in their team will be, and how the Paraguayan public are likely to view the tournament, as well as the amazing story of the side's former star striker Salvador Cabañas, and his fight to return to normal life after being shot in the head early last year. We find the time to discuss Cerro Porteño's chances of overturning their first leg defeat to Santos in the semi-final of the Copa Libertadores, as well. Hand Of Pod will be online as normal later in the week, discussing the Argentine league action with Seba.

We had difficulty shutting up this week. A full 45 minutes of actually quite good stuff (if we say so ourselves) was cut, and the podcast still comes in at over an hour. Diego Maradona is the focus of much of the early part, his ongoing wars of words with AFA president Julio Grondona and Argentina manager Sergio Batista the main reasons, and his unlikely alliance with River Plate president Daniel Passarella. The latter leads us on to more dodgy refereeing in the weekend just gone, before we consider the key fixtures in the run-in as the races for the Clausura title and to avoid relegation approach their defining points. You'll find a full diagram of the relevant bits of those tables, and the fixtures to come for each team, on the HOP blog (handofpod.wordpress.com). Oh, and we run the rule over potential new Arsenal man, Vélez's 'Ricky' Alvarez.

For the 20th episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba welcome special guest Asli Pelit to the show. Asli's a Turkish TV presenter who was at La Bombonera to see Boca Juniors beat River Plate 2-0 in Sunday's superclásico, and as well as giving us her impressions of that game, she also shares her thoughts on the most intelligent interviewees by position on the pitch, Julio Grondona's Argentina mafia connections, and the sandwiches at Colón (worth remembering if you're heading to a Copa América game in Santa Fe). We consider Diego Maradona's prestigious new managerial position, and offer to act as underwear models for a well-known Argentine brand. Oh, and we debate the age of Racing striker Teófilo Gutiérrez. He turns 26 today (17th May), so well done Aussie Dan.

In the nineteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Seba and Dan greet a couple of special guests to preview this Sunday's superclásico in La Bombonera. Samuel (no, not Sam) is our tamed River Plate fan, and the four of us try to keep him from attacking Boca Juniors fan Ariel. The team discuss the key players, our guests' memories of previous superclásicos, predictions and more, as well as looking over the action from the weekend just gone and contemplating Vélez Sarsfield's status as the only Argentine side in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores. On the Hand Of Pod blog (handofpod.wordpress.com) you'll find a couple of bonus videos, as mentioned in the podcast.

In the eighteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan have to make do without Seba, but attempt nonetheless to sum up an action-packed weekend in the 2011 Torneo Clausura. As well as four clásicos and a seven-goal thriller in Banfield, we discuss Vélez Sarsfield's and Estudiantes' diverging form (and their Copa Libertadores chances for Thursday night), the news that Ángel Cappa and Gimnasia La Plata have parted company (as Sam guessed at a week or two ago), and Erik Lamela's possible move before long to Europe. There's also a Juan Román Riquelme TV ad (which we've got for your viewing pleasure over on the HOP blog), and a cautionary tale of what happens when a footballer thinks with his balls rather than his head.

In the seventeenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Seba rejoins Sam, Dan and Dan. He's not happy with the way referees have been treating his club, and he's not afraid to make his anger heard, but a little surprisingly it's another HOP-er who drops an expletive, for which we of course apologise unreservedly. We also discuss Quilmes' recent upsurge in form, and English Dan tells us of an Argentine playing in Brazil who could be the next Messi (if it weren't for the fact he turned 27 the day after we recorded). Seba, meanwhile, reminds us of José Sanfilippo, the man who was never known as the old Fernando Torres. We recorded on Monday, since when Vélez have won their Copa Libertadores first leg against LDU Quito 3-0, and Estudiantes drew theirs 0-0 at home to Cerro Porteño. Lanús and Olimpo, in Monday night's game, drew 1-1.

In the sixteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan discuss the weekend's footballing action in Argentina, which included a hat trick at La Bombonera from a visiting forward you may never have heard of, a double strike from - are you sitting down? - Cristian 'Fat Fab' Fabbiani, and of course the clásico de Avellaneda which we previewed last week, and which was won 2-0 by Racing. We also talk about whether River can sustain their title challenge (Vélez won the game in hand 2-0 to move top just before this episode went online) and discuss the pointlessness or otherwise of the 'local national team', who played a 2-2 draw with Ecuador shortly before this episode was uploaded.

In the fifteenth episode of Hand Of Pod Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba discuss what we can only term a startling revelation from Racing full back Iván Pillud. We round up all the salient points from the Torneo Clausura in the weekend just gone, discuss Ariel Ortega's latest indiscipline (and wonder how much longer he's got left of his playing career), and look forward to the decisive matches for Argentine clubs in the Copa Libertadores. And of course, we couldn't possibly overlook the fact that this weekend one of the country's biggest and fiercest derbies will be fought out down in Avellaneda, as Racing Club host Independiente. All this and more on your weekly dose of HOP.

In the fourteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan are once again back on the fernet (after an alcohol-free episode 13), whilst Seba is dry as ever. We discuss the two giants of Argentine football; Boca Juniors, who had another Riquelme-inspired win, and River Plate, who scored an absolutely fantastic goal which their latest wunderkid was at the heart of. We also take in the rest of Argentina's 'Big Five', and Seba gives us some historical context on why they're called that. We also look at how just six points separate the leaders from the team in sixteenth, halfway through the season. As well as warning us why you should never venture to Boca's stadium without a massively overpriced tour guide, Mystic Dan is back with his predictions - place bets on four of these results this weekend, we just can't tell you which four - and Zombie, once again, is chasing his own tail. One day we'll get that on a videocast for you all.

The thirteenth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Dan, Seba and Dan discussing things in a remarkably sober manner. We look back on the USA vs Argentina friendly on Saturday, considering the performance. Seba has a few words he wishes he could say in Ángel Di María's ear, and they're not complimentary. Looking at the local league, we discuss the laughable idea that Boca Juniors might still win the title (they're 17th), and the brilliance of Juan Román Riquelme's goal for them at the weekend. And for some reason Seba and English Dan aren't eager to talk about Racing this week. You'll have to listen to find out why.

In the twelfth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, English Dan and Seba welcome back Australian Dan from his sojourn around Mendiza and Córdoba. There's a big discussion on the main issue of the weekend, the death of San Lorenzo fan Ramón Aramayo at the apparent hands of the police force, and we talk about some of the issues surrounding security in Argentine stadia. As well as this, there's talk of four disallowed goals last weekend in the league, Boca Juniors' ongoing crisis, and the Argentine representatives in the Copa Libertadores de América.

In the eleventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Seba and English Dan discuss the last decade or so of Racing Club's history, and what it says about club ownership issues in Argentina. They also tackle the thorny issue of racism in the country's stadia, and talk about some of the possible reasons for Sergio Agüero being overlooked again by national team manager Sergio Batista. Aussie Dan, a.k.a. Mystic Dan, is off getting drunk in Mendoza this week, but managed to put down his wine glass for long enough to send us his predictions for the coming weekend. And Zombie is as distracting and irritating as ever.

In Episode 10 of Hand Of Pod, Sam introduces you to his new home, where he's joined by the Dans and our special studio guests Katie and Jenny (Seba couldn't make it this week). We discuss rumours that Javier Pastore might be set to move to Manchester United or Barcelona, as well as Matías Almeyda's interesting statement that River Plate are set to soon become a South American version of the latter. Aussie Dan fills us in on the first clásico at the newly-opened Estadio Único de La Plata, and there are also questions from Twitter on why Racing have suddenly improved so drastically, and whether the Argentine league is slowly 'decentralising'. And there's the usual rundown of the local action, and Mystic Dan's predictions for the weekend ahead.

In the ninth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba talk about River Plate and Olimpo, the league leaders who are also battling against relegation. The non-Argentines also field a question on how they came to support the teams they do (and Dan and Sam provide a quick potted history of Ferro Carril Oeste, Hand Of Pod’s local club). Mystic Dan now has his own theme tune, and we use his powers to look forward to two clásicos at the end of this week, one in the Zona Sur of Greater Buenos Aires and the other down in La Plata.

In the eighth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan, Dan and Seba examine the recent (and ongoing) feud between Carlos Tevez and Argentina's national manager Sergio Batista - and AFA President Julio Grondona. They also look back on an interesting clásico clash between Racing and Boca Juniors in Avellaneda, and look forward to the coming weekend's matches, including a big derby clash between River Plate and Independiente. And Sam's got confirmation of a controversial rumour from late last year that was discussed in a 2010 episode of the show.

In the seventh episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan welcome new team member Seba García, of Mundo Albiceleste, to the show for the first time. Zombie expressed his displeasure at Walter Perazzo's Under 20s, and we discuss the events of the opening weekend, including Boca getting thrashed and Racing's Giovanni Moreno getting severely injured, prior to this weekend's clásico between the two sides.

Sam, Dan and Dan return for the first Hand Of Pod of 2011. As well as discussing the summer transfer action in Argentina, they also take a look at Argentina's performances in the Sudamericano Sub 20, as the national Under 20s attempt to qualify for the Youth World Cup and the London 2012 Olympic Football Tournament (this episode was recorded an hour before the 1-0 loss to Uruguay which rendered qualification for the latter all but impossible). There's a preview of sorts of the Torneo Clausura, which gets underway on Friday, and a debut for our new feature, 'Mystic Dan', in which horoscope ghostwriter Australian Dan (no, we've not made this up) predicts the results of the weekend's Primera División matches.

The fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is a bumper, one-hour(ish) end-of-year special. Uploading was delayed by a couple of days due to delays editing, but now Sam, Dan and Dan guide you through the climax of the Argentine league campaign and Independiente's dramatic Copa Sudamericana win with the help of tamed Independiente fan Fran. There's also an aside on players' goal celebrations in which Zombie (pictured) has a part to play. Sound quality isn't what it normally is this week, due to having to record over Skype thanks to Sam's Christmas holiday in England, but we'll be back to normal when we return in mid-late January 2011.

This week's podcast is the last live-recorded one of 2010, and sees Sam, Dan and Dan discuss the upcoming denouement of the Torneo Apertura, as well as the squad list for Argentina's Under 20 South American Championship campaign which will kick off in January in Colombia. We also look back on the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final last week. Oh, and there's a special guest dog.

In the third episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan shelter from the Buenos Aires rain whilst discussing the veterans of the Argentine league, why River Plate might be the season's most frustrating team to watch, All Boys supersub Cristian Fabbiani's waistline, and Independiente's chances of upsetting local neighbours Racing by winning the Copa Sudamericana (dented since we recorded by a 2-0 defeat in the first leg of the final). Farmyard noises also included.

In the second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan return to discuss last week's superclásico and Argentina's Lionel Messi-inspired win over Brazil. Last week's River Plate-supporting guest Gerardo is back to give us his take on both. We also look at the race for the league title, and the Copa Libertadores qualification spots, and there's praise for the brilliant season newly-promoted All Boys are having. The dogs, mercifully, were quieter this week, and the sound quality ought to be considerably better. Enjoy. The Hand Of Pod theme music is composed, performed and produced by Nick Ball.

In the first episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan talk to River Plate fan Gerardo and Boca Juniors supporter Pablo about the upcoming superclásico between Argentina's two biggest clubs. We also discuss the Copa América group stage draw and the future of the national team ahead of this week's Argentina vs Brazil friendly in Qatar, which brings the startling revelation from Gerardo that he feels a Uruguayan would be best placed to manage the Argentine national side. Oh, and there are some dogs. Sound quality WILL improve in future episodes, I promise.