Sam Surridge admits he could go ‘crazy’ if he keeps doing one thing in draining MLS Golden Boot battle with Lionel Messi

Nashville SC striker Sam Surridge shared his thoughts on the mental and emotional challenge of competing with Lionel Messi in this season’s race for the MLS Golden Boot. He admitted that constantly checking the Argentine’s goal tally could drive him ‘crazy.’

The English forward has been one of the standout players in the MLS this term, spearheading Nashville’s attack with a remarkable goal-scoring rate. With 23 goals to his name, Sam Surridge sits just three behind Lionel Messi, who leads the chart with 26, with LAFC’s Denis Bounaga sitting in between them with 24.

For Surridge, to be in the race with Messi for the Golden Boot is ‘special’ but also ‘draining’ given how the Inter Miami talisman keeps scoring every week. Surridge told The Overlap US:

“Yeah, it’s great. 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.

“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. 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.”

Interestingly, today, October 18, Nashville and Inter Miami will face off in the final weekend games of the MLS season. Across competitions, Sam Surridge has scored 29 goals, while Lionel Messi has 34 goals to his name.

Lionel Messi to play against Nashville, eyes first MLS Golden Boot

Lionel Messi will be looking to stamp his lead on the MLS Golden Boot as Inter Miami prepares to face Nashville. The Inter Miami forward is yet to win the league’s Golden Boot since joining the Herons in the summer of 2023. He came agonizingly close to winning it last season but was pipped to the award by D.C. United striker Christian Benteke, who ended the season with 23 goals.

Manager Javier Mascherano confirmed that their captain will be available for the clash with Nashville. However, irrespective of their result against Nashville, Messi and Miami can no longer win the Supporters’ Shield this season. Their only hope for a trophy this season is the MLS Cup.