NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville S.C. is on the verge of its first-ever trophy, but the significance of Saturday's Leagues Cup showdown with Inter Miami may mean even more to cement the club's spot in the sports landscape of Music City.
The Boys in Gold won their fourth straight knockout stage match Tuesday night, defeating Mexican power F.C. Monterrey 2-0 in front of a raucous crowd at Geodis Park.
English international Sam Surridge broke a scoreless tie in the 67th minute, scoring a goal in a third straight game since joining Nashville following his transfer from Premier League side Nottingham Forest. Fafa Picault's goal in the 96th minute helped put away what is the biggest victory in the club's four-year history to date.
The win clinches Nashville a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup - the most prestigious club competition in North and Central America - next spring. It also sets up a match against soccer legend Lionel Messi and Inter Miami for the Leagues Cup championship Saturday at 8 p.m.
Tickets for the match are expected to fetch more than $500 on the secondary market for the chance to see Surridge, reigning MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar, and Nashville against a surging Miami side that is unbeaten in the Leagues Cup after the addition of Messi, the Argentinian star who has scored nine goals in six matches since joining the club, including a stunning strike in a 4-1 semifinal win at Philadelphia Union Tuesday.
Nashville built the largest soccer-specific stadium in the country for nights like these. A chance to host one of the sport's all-time greats in a packed house with an opportunity to win the club's first silverware.
It's a moment that should not be taken for granted. Music City has gone 25 years in major professional sports without a championship. While a title in the inaugural mid-summer Leagues Cup may not rate alongside winning a Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup, it would be an enormous milestone for John Ingram, Ian Ayre, Mike Jacobs, Gary Smith, and everyone at Nashville S.C.
This club has been a model for an expansion franchise, making the playoffs in each of its first three seasons despite bouncing back and forth between the Eastern and Western Conferences of MLS. Now it has the chance to win a tournament between the two most competitive leagues on the continent with all 47 MLS and Liga MX teams competing in the Leagues Cup.
All that's left to accomplish is grabbing that silverware. And doing it against the likes of Messi and the David Beckham-run Inter Miami side will further raise the club's profile both domestically and abroad.
A win would also give Nashville a bye into the round of 16 of CONCACAF's Champions Cup, four wins next spring from an even bigger championship that would then send the Boys in Gold to the Club World Cup against the best clubs from around the world.
It's been a quick ascent for Nashville S.C., from a longshot expansion bid less than a decade ago to the verge of a championship trophy. And whatever happens, Saturday night will be remembered for a long time to come.
