This seems like as good a time as any to make the first post on HEGS in a good while. On Tuesday night, Argentina played Paraguay in Asunción and, needing a draw to mathematically confirm their place in next year's World Cup in Brazil, they scored five goals away from home in a World Cup qualifier... 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 →
Hand Of Pod 97: Argentina edge closer to a World Cup place, and back to domestic matters
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... Continue Reading →
Argentines Abroad: Higuaín, Messi and Tevez help their teams to victories (video)
In Spain on Saturday and in England on Sunday, three Argentine strikers helped their sides to wins. Gonzalo Higuaín scored for Real Madrid as they beat Deportivo La Coruña 2-1 away, Lionel Messi got Barcelona's winner in a 2-1 home win over Sevilla, and Carlos Tevez scored Manchester City's second with a screamer as they... Continue Reading →
Argentines Abroad: Messi double edges Barça to victory & Lio over 300 goals for the club (video)
Saturday brought another match for Barcelona, and another paid of goals for Lionel Messi. The La Liga leaders travelled to Andalusia to take on Granada, and the hosts took the lead during the first half, but two goals from Messi - one a stab in after a spilled save from the goalkeeper, the other a... Continue Reading →
Argentines Abroad: Messi matches Icardi with a four-goal haul of his own (video)
Following Mauro Icardi's ‘póker’ earlier on Sunday afternoon, Lionel Messi clearly felt unable to leave the youngster to hog all the limelight back in their homeland - and indeed their home town, since Icardi, like Messi, is from Rosario. Barcelona hosted Osasuna in the Camp Nou, and Messi hit four goals of his own as... Continue Reading →
Some quick thoughts on Argentina’s World Cup qualifying, and South America more generally
Last Friday and this Tuesday just gone were good days for the Argentine national football team. For the first time in the current World Cup qualifying campaign, they won back-to-back matches (3-0 against Uruguay on Friday, 2-1 away to Chile last night), and now sit on top of the CONMEBOL qualiying table with twenty points,... Continue Reading →
World Cup qualifying Brazil 2014: Chile 1 – 2 Argentina (video)
On Tuesday night, Argentina's national side stepped onto the pitch in Santiago to begin the second half of their World Cup qualifying campaign, away to Chile, who they'd beaten 4-1 just over a year ago in Buenos Aires at the start of qualifying. Chile came out of the blocks quicker, but two strikes close together,... Continue Reading →
World Cup qualifying Brazil 2014: Argentina 3 – 0 Uruguay (video)
On Friday night, Argentina hosted Uruguay in Mendoza, in the first of the two clásicos rioplatense of this World Cup qualifying edition. The South American champions played poorly in the last qualifying matches a month ago, and although they put up a spirited resistance during the first half, they were blown away in the second with... Continue Reading →
World Cup qualifying: Argentina beat Paraguay at home for first time since 1973 (video)
Friday evening didn't bring any Torneo Inicial matches - those will be played over Saturday, Sunday and Monday - but it did feature a World Cup qualifying match in which Argentina dispatched Paraguay 3-1 in Córdoba with an expertly-finished goal from Ezequiel Lavezzi (flicking it in off his back - a real genius finish), a... Continue Reading →
Hasta El Gol Siempre 