Sterling Demands Longevity To Reach Ronaldo, Messi Level
Raheem Sterling has called for more playing time to be on the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The former Liverpool man was a delight to watch with his impressive performance in England’s 5-3 win over Kosovo as he scored an early equaliser and also provided three assists.
Aiming to reach the same level with Messi and Ronaldo, Sterling believes he is yet to meet the benchmark set by the two football greats.
"The most remarkable thing about these players is not that they've been doing it for two or three seasons," said Sterling. "They've been doing it for pretty much their whole career, season after season.
"This is my third season at a high level, I would say, and I just have to keep continuing. I have full belief in myself.
"I have goals and they've been goals of mine since I was a child, and I'll keep thriving and keep learning and try to get all the way to the top, for sure.
"When I first put on the England shirt, I wasn't looking at my stats too much," he said. "It wasn't until I saw how bad they were I put extra pressure on myself to score.
"But I said to myself that once my first goal goes in, I know that the goals will come after that. That's all I was waiting for.
"That night in Spain when I scored two, from then I knew I'd kick on and keep scoring goals."
Sterling has had a successful spell at Manchester City with 35 goals in his last two campaigns in the Premier League.
