Nashville’s Sam Surridge Eyes MLS Golden Boot in Showdown with Lionel Messi
Sam Surridge is on the verge of a landmark moment in Major League Soccer, locked in a thrilling Golden Boot chase with none other than Lionel Messi.
The Nashville SC striker has netted 23 goals this season, just three shy of Messi’s league-leading 26, with LAFC’s Denis Bouanga sitting in between at 24.
For Surridge, the prospect of matching Messi’s record is more than a numbers game, it’s a personal milestone.
“Yeah, it’s great,” Surridge told The Overlap US podcast. “It’s obviously made it more special the goals coming this year, because I’m competing with him.
But yeah, at the same time, like throughout the season, I’ve always tried to kind of get to where I want to get to. If I carried on looking at his goals, I think I’d probably go crazy, because he’s scoring every week and it’s very draining.”
His consistency has been key. Even during dry spells, the striker kept his focus, confident that goals would come.
“I think I’ve tried to keep consistent – even when I haven’t scored for two, three games, I’ve always said ‘I know I’ll get my chance and I’ll get a goal,'” Surridge added.
“And I’ve tried to build that, and I think this season has been great for me, where I’ve kind of consistently just gone back to what I want to do. And I’ve got the goals that I needed…
“Obviously, competing with him is nice. But at the same time, I’ve had my goals where I wanted to get to, and hopefully I’m not done yet.”
Surridge’s journey from the English leagues to the MLS wasn’t seamless. After stints with Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, the striker made the leap across the Atlantic at 24, a bold step for a young forward still finding his prime.
“Yeah, it definitely takes time,” he explained. “I probably found it easier at the start because almost everything was new, everything was very exciting.
And then the changes. I’m playing in America, and I’m not playing in England anymore. And I think for someone at my age it probably was, not frowned upon, but it wasn’t normal.
I was 24 when I came over, and I was still probably still coming into my prime, and I still don’t feel like I’ve hit that. But at the same time, I was still young, learning the game and coming over to the MLS.
And it wasn’t easy, but at the same time, it’s trying not to put too much pressure on myself to go and be that 20-goal season striker.”
The move has not just been about scoring. Surridge credits his time in the United States with helping him understand his body and adapt his game.
“I’ve kind of learned stuff along the way,” he said. I’ve learned stuff about my body here in America that I didn’t in England.
I think I’ve learned a lot by myself, and the way I’ve played and what I need to do to that. So yeah, it’s not easy, it’s two very different leagues.
I think especially the Championship and Premier League, obviously two different leagues, but compared to MLS, you can’t really compare it. Because it’s so big, America, and every game’s different.
“You watch one game and it’s one style, and watch another game, it’s another style. And one game I’ll feel like I have five chances, one game I won’t even get in the penalty box.
So it is very different, I feel like, in the MLS and you can’t really compare it to English leagues.”
The climax arrives on Decision Day. Nashville SC will host Inter Miami at GEODIS Park on Saturday, and Surridge will face Messi directly.
To overtake the Argentine superstar, the Englishman needs a hat-trick. Stakes could not be higher.
Fans are bracing for an electrifying end to the MLS regular season. Will Sam Surridge rise to the occasion and carve his name alongside one of the game’s greatest icons? Saturday will tell.
