Sam Surridge admits Lionel Messi's relentless scoring driving him CRAZY in MLS Golden Boot chase

Nashville SC striker Sam Surridge gave his thoughts on the mental and emotional challenge of competing with Lionel Messi in this season's chase for the MLS Golden Boot. he admitted that constantly checking the Argentine's goal tally would drive him 'crazy.'

The English striker has been one of the emerging players in the MLS this term, leading Nashville's attack with remarkable goal-scoring rate. With 23 goals, Sam Surridge sits just three behind Lionel Messi, who leads the chart with 26, with LAFC's Denis Bounaga sitting in second place with 24 goals.

For Surridge, to be in the race with Messi for the Golden Boot is 'special' but also 'draining' given how the Inter Miami icon 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 each other in the final weekend games of the MLS season. Across all competitions, Sam Surridge has amassed 29 goals, while Lionel Messi has 34 goals to his name.

Lionel Messi eyes first MLS Golden Boot

Lionel Messi will stamp his authority on the MLS Golden Boot as Inter Miami prepares to face Nashville. The Inter Miami skipper has yet win the league's Golden Boot since joining the Herons in the summer of 2023. He came very close to winning it last season but was pipped to the award by D.C. United striker Christian Benteke, who finished the season with 23 goals.

Inter Miami coach, Javier Mascherano, confirmed Lionel Messi's availability for the game against Nashville. However, irrespective of their result against Nashville, Messi and Miami can no longer aim for the Supporters' Shield this season. Their only hope for a title this season is the MLS Cup.