Oh, hello. It's been a while, as it normally is. I shan't bore you with more promises of more frequent updates this time, I'll just post this one and we'll see what happens next, shall we? The Argentine Primera kicks off a week on Friday, and it will do so without Juan Román Riquelme, who's finally... Continue Reading →
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,... Continue Reading →
Riquelme returns to Argentina’s domestic squad
Alejandro Sabella has named his first squad as Argentina manager, in preparation for a pair of friendlies against Brazil next month. The matches, before anyone gets too excited, will feature only players from the domestic leagues of the two nations, so this is not a return to the proper national side; but for the first time in... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
Boca Juniors vs River Plate: how to watch, & who to watch
The 2011 Torneo Clausura edition of one of the world's biggest football derbies kicks off in an hour and a bit, with River Plate traveling south to La Bombonera to take on Boca Juniors in the superclásico. Boca have been in better form in recent weeks but River, challenging for the title whilst also battling... 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 →
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... Continue Reading →
Clausura: Riquelme stunner gives Boca 3 points; Vélez crush Arsenal (video)
After six matches of stubborn refusal, Boca Juniors manager Julio César Falcioni finally caved in and sent a team out built around playmaker Juan Román Riquelme on Sunday night. He was rewarded, in the midst of a fairly drab match away to Colón, with a piece of brilliance which rolled back the years to when... Continue Reading →
Hand Of Pod episode 9: relegation-threatened title challengers, & picking a team
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... Continue Reading →
Same old problem for Boca: Riquelme misses training
Juan Román Riquelme has seen quite a fuss kicked up over him in the last few days, following Julio César Falcioni's decision to omit him from the squad which faced All Boys on Saturday. Yesterday, I wrote a piece for ESPN Soccernet which dealt with that decision and the difficulties Boca managers have previously faced... Continue Reading →
Hasta El Gol Siempre 