'Obviously competing with him is nice' - Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge relishes MLS Decision Day Golden Boot battle with Inter Miami icon Lionel Messi

The opportunity to compete with one of soccer's all-time greats has added an extra dimension to Surridge's breakthrough MLS season. Surridge said that his Golden Boot battle with the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has only made it more special. 

“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 remarkable consistency throughout the campaign has been a hallmark of his success.

“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 said. "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 path to MLS stardom wasn't immediate after arriving from England, where he had played for Premier League sides Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest. The striker took a measured approach to his development in a new league.

“Yeah, it definitely takes time,” Surridge said. “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.”

His time in MLS has allowed Surridge to learn more about his body and his game, developing aspects that he hadn't focused on during his time in England.

“I’ve kind of learned stuff along the way,” Surridge 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, its 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"

In a dramatic twist of scheduling, Surridge will face Messi directly on Decision Day when Nashville host Inter Miami at GEODIS Park on Saturday. The English striker needs a hat-trick to match Messi's current tally.