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 →
Verón admits he might not play again for Argentina
Juan Sebastián Verón has confirmed that he thinks it unlikely he'll play for Argentina for much longer, if ever again, due to age and the need for Sergio Batista - who looks increasingly likely to be given charge of the side on a permanent basis - or his successor to build a team for the... Continue Reading →
Riquelme finally signs, and Seba Verón wades in on Maradona
After more ins and outs, ups and downs and all round tedious moaning than a particularly tawdry adult film, Juan Román Riquelme has finally signed his new four-year contract with Boca Juniors. Putting pen to paper earlier today, the Boca playmaker extended his stay at the club by four years, a week later than scheduled.... Continue Reading →
Be afraid…
With two days still to go before Argentina take on Germany in perhaps the most evenly-matches quarter-final of the South Africa 2010 World Cup, there's not a lot interesting to report - Diego Maradona won't be changing the formation, though one or two players might come in or be dropped. You can read about those... Continue Reading →
One step forward…
Argentina's preparations for their World Cup second round match on Sunday against Mexico continue apace, with FIFA officially confirming that Juan Sebastián Verón's 135 successful passes against Greece is a new record for a single player in a single match in World Cups (statistics started in 1966). On the squad's day off, Jonás Gutiérrez -... Continue Reading →
Argentina 2 – 0 Greece: my reaction
Argentina's passage to the second round of the 2010 World Cup having been confirmed on Tuesday, the country's main concern during Wednesday's matches was who their rivals in the quarter-finals will be should they see off Mexico on Sunday. There was also time, though, for some reflection on the better-even-than-hoped-for group performance, and in particular... Continue Reading →
World Cup South Africa 2010: Argentina 2 – 0 Greece
Argentina confirmed their place in the second round of the 2010 World Cup on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over a very defensive Greece side in Lionel Messi's first match as captain of the selección. It took a while for Diego Maradona's team to break the tightly-packed Greek defence but eventually Martín Demichelis and substitute... Continue Reading →
World Cup 2010: Argentina keep preparing
Argentina will almost certainly secure their qualification for the second round of the 2010 World Cup on Tuesday when they take on Greece. They can afford to lose by five goals against Greece, and even then they might not go out, depending on the result of South Korea vs Nigeria of course. With qualification already... Continue Reading →
Plans and issues
Argentina's preparation for the second match of their World Cup challenge gathers apace. The main issues following the flawed but encouraging performance in the 1-0 win against Nigeria on Saturday were the right back position - where Jonás Gutiérrez clearly wasn't comfortable - and the extent of Seba Verón's calf strain, which won't keep him... Continue Reading →
World Cup South Africa 2010: Argentina 1 – 0 Nigeria: my reaction
After an opening performance from Argentina which ranged from the outstanding (Lionel Messi) to the anonymous (Ángel Di María) by way of the pity-inducing (Jonás Gutiérrez), I've done a write-up of the reaction in Argentina for ESPN Soccernet. You can read it here.
