Sam Surridge, the English player from Nashville who dreams of surpassing Messi in the MLS scoring charts and chooses Boca Juniors over River Plate.

At times, Lionel Messi seems "inevitable," like a comic book villain: goalkeepers and journalists suffer from him. When the email went from Buenos Aires to Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, to speak with the top scorer over the Argentine number 10, Sam Surridge was five goals ahead of the former Barcelona player in the race to become the MLS 's all-time leading scorer. Today, just a few weeks later, with Inter Miami already caught up with their games, that race has turned around, and now Leo has three more than the Briton.

Inter Miami 's player has 26 goals and Nashville SC 's player has 23, with Denis Bouanga , the Franco-Gabonese player from Los Angeles FC in the middle, with 24. Tonight, on the last day of the league's regular season, the so-called "Decision Day" , the playoff keys will be determined, but also who will take the Golden Boot , a title that Messi has yet to win in his adventure in American soccer. And we already know what happens to the captain of the Scaloneta and the challenges. The Rosario native also leads the way in assists, with 18, along with the Dane Anders Dreyer , of San Diego FC . Hence, it seems a given that he will be chosen as the MVP of the season. As I said, "inevitable."

But the highlight is Surridge, this 27-year-old, 1.91-meter-tall blond Englishman, who is having the biggest year of his career this season. Born in Slough, a city of 150,000 inhabitants in the center of the British Isles, he trained at Bournemouth , where he rose to promotion and made his Premier League debut against Chelsea (a team he declares himself a fan of), and then played for Stoke City and Nottingham Forest , before crossing the Atlantic to end up in American football.

"I lacked consistency. I could have stayed in England making money, or maybe gone to another European league, but I was drawn to the MLS. I saw that Messi had just arrived and was growing, with many important players, and more are joining year after year," explains Sam, who cut his teeth in the lower echelons of English football before turning professional.

"When I was a kid, I really liked Sergio Agüero , during his time at Manchester City. I used to sit down and play FIFA video games and I would choose to play with him. I loved his goals, his moves; he had a very special style. I never got to face him due to age, but he was a reference in my position," says Sam.

FOUR GOALS FOR SAM SURRIDGE 🤯 @NashvilleSC are dominating. pic.twitter.com/deW0D13Z6m

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 27, 2025

After Friday's practice, hours before the match against Inter Miami, Surridge continued to talk about Argentine soccer via video call, including Maradona, Messi, La Scaloneta, and Boca Juniors.

"When you see Argentina, you see a true team. They play together, they have a sense of family, and you could see that at the World Cup in Qatar. They work hard, they're dedicated to each other, and they had Messi to make things special," the Englishman explains.

Maradona or Messi, for Surridge, there's no room for debate due to a generational issue. "I'm a huge admirer of Argentine footballers. I grew up hearing that Maradona was the best in the world, but I didn't get to see him on Prime Time , only a few videos, and he was incredible. But the one I did enjoy was Messi, who for me is the GOAT, one of the greatest of all time, and he's still brilliant," he asserts.

There's not much doubt between Boca and River Plate for Surridge, who, due to the blue and gold colors, looks like a British version of Martín Palermo. "Boca or River Plate? I think I'd choose Boca, because of their jersey designs; I like them, and they also have the same colors as Nashville . From a distance, I feel like Argentine soccer is very passionate, which I like. And Boca's stadium seems amazing to me, like it's intense, seeing the fans so close to the players. I'd love to play there sometime..."

Sam dreams of La Bombonera, but his home is Geode Park , the largest soccer-only stadium in the United States, with a capacity of 30,000, opening in 2022. Boca Juniors played there at the end of June against Auckland City in the Club World Cup. Today we're talking about Nashville SC, the visit of Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, and the current top scorer of the British number 9.

In his third season, he's having the best year of his life: to his 23 league goals, we must add the six he scored in the US Open Cup , the American version of the Copa Argentina (although it's been played in North America for over 100 years), where Nashville SC ended up being crowned champion. Now he wants to score a double in the MLS , with the playoffs set to begin in the coming weeks; and Sam isn't giving up in his battle with Messi and Bouanga to be the top scorer in the regular season.

"I faced Messi in the Leagues Cup final, as soon as he arrived, which they won, and then a couple more times. He's an amazing player, but when it comes to facing him, the admiration goes off the pitch. Once the ball starts rolling, my focus is on scoring goals for my team," says Sam, who needs an inspired night to move up to number 10 in the scoring charts.

"I have to score four goals to pass him, yes... But hey, in football you never know. This season has been incredible for me, and at the start there was a game against Chicago in which I scored four goals. As the matches went by, I looked at that table and saw myself ahead of Messi: on the one hand it was great, but on the other, I didn't want to think too much about it because I knew he had several matches left and that at some point he would pass me," says the blond.

-A consolation prize could be his shirt...

-Yes, I wish... I've never asked him for it, nor do I dare ask him for it because I know there are 100 other players looking for the same thing. It would be a very nice consolation prize, without a doubt. If he were to give it to me, I think I'd save it for my son Noah, who turns one in December. A Messi jersey is the kind of relic he'll value as time goes by and he grows up because it belonged to one of the legends of this sport.