Hand Of Pod

Episodet

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  Episode 575: River's Ponzio scheme has started well 11.09.2026 1h 12min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés discuss a second win in a row for Leonardo Ponzio's River Plate, an entertaining draw between Gimnasia de Mendoza and Boca Juniors and defeat for Racing at home to Atlético Tucumán. We also cover the correct ways to refer to Atlético Tucumán and Independiente Rivadavia (de Mendoza) and have a look at some of the continental games and Copa Argentina action this week and more besides.
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  Episode 574: Lionel Messi retires from international football 04.09.2026 1h 41min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Santi B and Santi S discuss a piece of news that in normal circumstances would be the biggest of our week – Eduardo Coudet's sacking as River Plate manager – before turning our attention to the main event: Lionel Messi's retirement from the Argentina national team after 207 matches, 125 goals, two Copas América and that glorious 2022 World Cup.
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  Episode 573: Coudet in hot water and Independiente underwhelm 28.08.2026 1h 20min

  This week's episode was recorded on Wednesday, before Eduardo Coudet was sacked as River Plate manager the day after they went out of the Copa Sudamericana. Sam, English Dan and Santi B review last weekend's action, which included River throwing away a 2–0 lead to draw at home to Vélez Sarsfield in what turned out to be Coudet's penultimate match. We also hear from Santi about what's going wrong at Independiente this time.
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  Episode 572: River finally win and Boca advance in the Sudamericana 22.08.2026 1h 10min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés review last weekend's Liga Profesional action, which saw River Plate finally win a match – 2–0 against in-form Argentinos Juniors, no less. Boca Juniors cruised through their Copa Sudamericana tie and Argentine champions Belgrano got a good win over Independiente Rivadavia. All this and much more right here!
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  Episode 571: Argentinos look good, River look very bad and the Copas are well underway 14.08.2026 1h 12min

  This week Sam, Andrés, Chris and English Dan look at yet another defeat for River Plate, whose boss Eduardo Coudet is under a lot of pressure now. This weekend River play Argentinos Juniors, and that doesn't look good for Coudet because Argentinos are in fine form. Huracán beat San Lorenzo in the clásico, and the knockout stages of the Copas Sudamericana and Libertadores are well underway.
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  Episode 570: What is going on at River Plate? And there are 29 other teams in the top flight ... 08.08.2026 1h 36min

  The Torneo Clausura 2026 is well underway and this week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés meet to ask what on earth is going on at River Plate, who've lost five (competitive) games in a row for the first time since 1911(!) thanks in part to a sporting director who's also being blamed for the current mess at Olympique Marseille. They're not the only team in the top flight, though, so we also round up the main takeaways from the first three rounds of action.
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  Episode 569: the 2026 World Cup post-mortem ... and what's next for Argentina? 23.07.2026 1h 31min

  This week Sam, Chris, Andrés and Santi B look back on the 2026 World Cup final, and the tournament as a whole. Just what were Argentina trying to do on Sunday, and why didn't it work? Why did they struggle to get going all through the tournament? And as the nation looks to the next chapter for the national team, what changes are around the corner for Lionel Scaloni, Lionel Messi and the rest?
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  Episode 568: how Argentina beat England and previewing the 2026 World Cup final 18.07.2026 1h 29min

  Argentina are in another World Cup final, and here Sam, Chris, Andrés and special guest Rob Adcock review their semifinal win over England and preview Sunday's final against Spain in Not New York.
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  Episode 567: previewing Argentina v England in the World Cup semifinal 14.07.2026 1h 38min

  Saturday saw Argentina beat Switzerland and England beat Norway to set up a potential World Cup semifinal for the ages. Sam, Chris, Andrés and Santi B review the nervy extra time victory over Switzerland and preview Argentina v England.
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  Episode 566: Argentina just refuse to make it easy for themselves 08.07.2026 1h 25min

  This week Sam, Chris, Andrés and Julián sit down to attempt to analyse Argentina's advancement to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup, which came courtesy of an impossibly nervy 3–2 win over Cape Verde that was followed by a 3–2 win over Egypt that somehow managed to be even more impossibly nervy.
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  Episode 565: Argentina coast through 2026 World Cup group J 29.06.2026 1h 43min

  We're back! Sam, Chris, Andrés and Santi S review Argentina's near-perfect start to their attempt to defend the World Cup title, after they got nine points from three matches and conceded just once in group J. We ask whether Lionel Messi is any good at football (he might be), look at the defence and midfield and run the rule over the other CONMEBOL representatives.
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  Episode 564: Independiente Rivadavia win the clásico and Boca thrash Defensa 01.05.2026 1h 36min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Andrés and Santi B discuss a clásico mendocino that didn't go as expected for the first twenty seconds, but went very much to form thereafter as Independiente Rivadavia ran out 5–1 winners over Gimnasia de Mendoza. Boca Juniors also got a four-goal winning margin, while Riestra and River Plate both won by a couple. The playoff qualifiers aren't quite decided as we go into the last weekend of group stage action, but this is the final episode of the Torneo Apertura for us, because Sam's mate didn't consult Sam before deciding when to get married. We'll be back when the World Cup is underway ... unless you'd like to join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/handofpod
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  Episode 563: Boca win the superclásico and ... are Newell's good now? 24.04.2026 1h 29min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Andrés and Santi S gather to discuss a superclásico win for Boca Juniors that was narrow – and might have escaped them had a refereeing call right at the death gone the other way – but deserved, as Chacho Coudet's reign at River Plate hits its first bump in the road. Elsewhere there was another win for Newell's Old Boys, who seem to have remembered how to play football and a seven-goal thriller in Santiago del Estero among other results.
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  Episode 562: River and Boca can both look forward to the superclásico 18.04.2026 1h 32min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi S look at last week's league results and the midweek continental matches, both of which brought positive results for River Plate and Boca Juniors ahead of Sunday's superclásico. It was also a great week for Independiente Rivadavia.
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  Episode 561: Independiente win the clásico and the continental group stages begin 11.04.2026 1h 27min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Santi S and Santi B discuss half a round of Torneo Apertura action that saw Independiente scrape a win over Racing in the clásico and – we hope you're sitting down for this – Newell's Old Boys win a second league game in a row. We also go over the action from the opening week of Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana group stage matches.
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  Episode 560: Scaloni edges closer to finalising Argentina's World Cup squad 04.04.2026 1h 21min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés, Santi B and Santi S look back on Argentina's two friendly wins in the Bombonera over Mauritania and Zambia. We discuss how encouraging or discouraging the performances were, which players have done themselves favours (or done themselves no favours at all) in terms of getting into the squad for the World Cup and who we think will ultimately make the cut. We also take a look at the current standings in the Torneo Apertura group stage and preview Saturday's Avellaneda clásico.
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  Episode 559: Two teams hit five and the Copa Sudamericana group draw 21.03.2026 1h 17min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Santi S get together to discuss a round of Apertura action that saw both Lanús and Defensa y Justicia hit five goals (not against each other), Coudet's River claim another win and Independiente Rivadavia get back to winning ways. We also give our reactions to the Copa Sudamericana group stage, which took place while we were recording the second half. If you enjoy the pod and would like more (including, this week, our reaction to the Libertadores draw that was taking too long for us to include it on the main episode), you can get extra episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/handofpod
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  Episode 558: Fedorco rescues a dramatic point for Independiente 14.03.2026 1h 20min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Chris and Andrés look back on a midweek round of action that began with a wild draw in Avellaneda between Independiente and Unión, continued with a dull one in Junín between Sarmiento and Racing and ended (from our point of view recording before Estudiantes de La Plata v Lanús) with Eduardo Coudet winning his first match in charge of River Plate. All this and more awaits you ...
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  Episode 557: A week in the life of Chiqui Tapia 07.03.2026 1h 18min

  This week Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss a draw for River Plate in their last match prior to Eduardo Coudet's arrival as head coach, a good win for Racing and some cracking goals in Parque Patricios, but the main topic is a ridiculously dramatic week in the life of AFA President Claudio Tapia.
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  Episode 556: Gallardo leaves River and Lanús win the Recopa Sudamericana 28.02.2026 1h 15min

  This week Sam, English Dan, Chris, Santi B and special guest Joey D'Urso look back on (almost) two whole rounds of Torneo Apertura action, which saw Marcelo Gallardo step down as River Plate manager, signing off with a 3–1 win over Banfield, Independiente Rivadavia continue their excellent start to the season and Independiente (de Avellaneda) have a torrid week in Mendoza (not for the first time). As well as all that, Lanús followed up last week's home win with an away win after extra time over Flamengo to claim the Recopa Sudamericana.