GM football fans. Route One here, we’re the espresso shot of football newsletters - short, sharp and the best way to start your day.

Today’s briefing is a ~4.5 min read:

1. 3 interesting takes this week 👀

2. Quick stats: Núñez finds his shooting boots 🥾

3. The most bizarre game in football history 😲

3 INTERESTING TAKES THIS WEEK 👀

Every pro or ex-pro has a podcast these days - and it’s becoming harder to keep up than the actual games.

Here are the most interesting podcast takes this week…

1/ Kevin Davies was Ferdinand’s hardest opponent.

Rio Ferdinand has played against the creme de la creme of Premier League strikers…

Thierry Henry. Didier Drogba. Sergio Ageuro. Van Persie. The list goes on.

But in the Obi One Podcast this week, Rio said his toughest opponent was… Kevin Davies.

I mean, Davies was decent but he…

• Only scored two goals against United in his career…

• … and assisted once.

Route One take: maybe Rio’s right when he says ‘styles make fights’ - sometimes players can be more of a nuisance than the stats suggest.

2/ Marc White’s tea lady is getting coaching badges.

If you don’t know who Marc White is, he’s achieved 12 promotions in 24 years at Dorking Wanderers… and if you want to know more about him, read this.

Anyway, he’s refusing to do his coaching badges, even though he will need to if is going to manager in the EFL.

Why? In his words, “I back myself, and I don’t need a f*cking badge to back myself.”

Fair.

On Sam Allardyce’s No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, White says that Barbara who “works in the tea bar” is doing the coaching badges.

So… if Dorking gets promoted to the EFL, expect Barbara to take the press conferences and be on the front of the matchday programme.

3/ Souness clarifies Pogba ‘beef’.

I know I know… you’re probably tired of hearing Graeme Souness blaming Pogba.

But in his podcast Simon & Souness he provides some nuance.

Ahhhh nuance. We love that here.

So, why was he frustrated with Pogba?

• Souness thought he had the potential to be great… but didn’t fulfil it.

• His attitude stank after winning the World Cup.

Safe to say, the beef continues…

QUICK HIT STATS 💉

👏 Darwin Núñez is the first Premier League player to register at least 10 goals and 10 assists in all competitions this season.

😲 Oli McBurnie’s 103rd-minute penalty versus West Ham was the latest goal on record in the Premier League.

👟 James Ward-Prowse has scored 53 Premier League goals, with 31 from set-pieces. He’s the only player to score 50+ Premier League goals and have at least half of them come via direct free-kicks or penalties (58.5%).

🌍 Seven of the 24 games at AFCON 2023 have been drawn 1-1. That’s nearly a third of all games achieving the same scoreline.

THE MOST BIZARRE GAME IN HISTORY

🇧🇧 vs 🇬🇩

Football is simple. Score in the opposition’s goal more than they score in yours. Done.

But what happens if the rules encourage teams to score own goals? 

Well, that’s what happened when Barbados played Grenada in the 1994 Caribbean Cup.

The rule? Any goal scored in extra time would end the game and - here’s the fun part - would count as two goals.

So, picture this…

• Grenada were three points clear in a 3-team group table.

• Barbados needed to win by a 2-goal margin.

• Barbados took an early 2-0 lead… 

… but in the 83^rd minute, Grenada scored to make it 2-1

Barbados’s two-goal lead gone. The clock ticking. Grenada deployed an ultra-low block. Tick… tock. Barbados lost hope.

Until… their striker turns around with the ball and fires it into his own net. 

Why? Because the game would go to extra-time and give Barbados a chance to get a two-goal lead with just one goal.

Despite the initial confusion, Grenadian players soon realised why the striker scored the own goal. In response, they tried to score an own goal. 

Chaos erupted. For a few minutes, Barbadian players were trying to prevent Grenada from scoring an own goal, and at the same time, trying to prevent them from scoring an actual goal. 

The whistle blew… it was extra-time

Barbados’ ingenuity was rewarded. 

It took just four minutes for them to score to win the game.

Most importantly, the goal counted as two. Grenada was knocked out of the tournament and Barbados went through to the final.

It’s one of those stories that’s hard to believe - thankfully there’s video evidence to prove it actually happened.

EXTRA-TIME ⏱️

Can someone explain how the referee came to this decision? Bosingwa literally kicked Benayoun out of play… and still won the free kick.

Controversy in the final minutes of Sheffield United vs West Ham. Rio and Cole think it was an “absolute” penalty, but United’s Ahmedhodzic speaks out on X.

Surprisingly, Troy Deeney’s 29-day spell at Forest Green doesn’t make the top 10 shortest managerial reigns. Leroy Rosenior was hired for just 10 minutes as Torquay United's manager.

Goals are satisfying, but so is the sound of a rattling crossbar. Here’s a clip of Cristiano Ronaldo’s strike against Arsenal - an if only moment.

MEME 😆

ROUTER REVIEW OF THE DAY

R1 REFERRAL