For no other reason than I found it on YouTube a couple of nights ago and thought it would be fun to share for those who want to fill some time whilst waiting for Thursday's opening ceremony and Brazil v Croatia, here's the final of the Mexico '86 World Cup, played between Argentina and West... Continue Reading →
Independiente relegated for first time ever as Argentinos & San Martín dare to hope
Saturday saw just three games in the Torneo Final; all were played simultaneously as a tight relegation battle came to a head. Independiente needed all three games to go just the right way, and in the end all three went exactly the opposite ways; Argentinos and San Martín both won (just one of them doing... Continue Reading →
Messi hat trick takes him past Maradona & into joint second in Argentina top scorers list
Argentina have had two recent draws in World Cup qualifying, 0-0 at home to Colombia and 1-1 away to Ecuador, and are now assured of at least a playoff place for Brazil 2014 - one win from their remaining three games is enough to secure their place. On Friday night, they celebrated with a friendly... Continue Reading →
Alfredo Di Stéfano’s forgotten story: an amateur neighbourhood club & the greatest ringer of all time
Tuesday night in the Copa Argentina saw two sides with proud achievements in Argentine football come together, as Primera División Quilmes beat Primera C side Ferrocarril Midland 3-1 to advance. Quilmes were the first criollo team (that is, a side made up of locals) to win the Argentine championship, back in 1912, after it had been dominated... Continue Reading →
An interview with Javier Pastore in The Blizzard, and other recent writing
As those who follow me on Twitter and/or listen to Hand Of Pod may already be aware, I interviewed Paris Saint-Germain star and Argentina player Javier Pastore during the second half of last year. The resulting article is published today in issue four of The Blizzard, the football quarterly edited by Jonathan Wilson. It's available in hard... Continue Reading →
The Hand Of God turns 25
You've probably already seen elsewhere, but this is an Argentine football website, so I couldn't let it pass un-noticed. 25 years ago today, Argentina took on England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, and Diego Maradona scored two goals that have come to encapsulate Argentine football:... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
Hand Of Pod is now on iTunes
A brief announcement: Hand Of Pod, the podcast I'll from now on be regularly producing, also featuring Dan Colasimone of Argentina Football World and Dan Edwards of Goal, is now available on iTunes. We've already had comfortably upwards of 200 listeners to the first episode, so if you want to get in on the ground... Continue Reading →
Political football
If you've been wondering why HEGS has been fairly quiet this week, it's because I've been attempting, in the wake of Néstor Kirchner's death on Wednesday, to write an article on the links between Peronist politics and football in Argentina, and to keep that article down to a mere 1,000 words. It's not been easy,... Continue Reading →
World Cup in Argentina & Uruguay 2030?
FIFA President Sepp Blatter Joseph S. Blatter is currently in Colombia for the World Youth Cup, and when he arrived on Wednesday he made an exciting announcement for Argentines and Uruguayans. The two countries' FAs have already put forward their formal candidacy to joint host the 2030 World Cup. Whilst the bulk of the event... Continue Reading →
Hasta El Gol Siempre 