Former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has revealed the player who made Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo a ‘better player.’ Scolari, who is the current manager of Chinese Super League giants Guangzhou Evergrande, has claimed that former Portugal winger Luis Figo was the man behind Ronaldo’s brilliant career.
The 67-year-old was speaking by virtue of being an ex-Portugal manager from 2002 to 2008. He gave the Real Madrid star his debut in August 2003, and now claims that Figo played a pivotal role in the success of the 31-year-old who scored the winning penalty in last Saturday’s Champions League final against Atletico Madrid in Milan.
In an interview with Omnisport, Scolari said:
"Of all the players I coached while at Portugal, there was one that was especially important for Cristiano Ronaldo, that was Luis Figo,
"When Ronaldo started with the national team, the first one to help him was Figo. He was the first player to challenge Ronaldo to dribble and shoot, to score goals, to play his own game, to keep working all the time and become a better footballer.
"Figo took a position, saying 'My son, try again, keep trying. If you see the situation is difficult, I will give you a hand, and if you make a mistake I have everything ready, so calm down, but you have to try'."
Figo is the player with the most appearances for Portugal with 127 caps, but Cristiano Ronaldo needs two more matches to equal the record, and one more to break it. This is highly possible especially if the Los Blancos hitman features in the upcoming Euro 2016. 
The Brazilian manager also heaped praise on CR7’s desire to be the best in the world:
"Cristiano has won the Ballon d'Or several times because he is a professional,
"He won't accept not being thought of as the best player in the world.
"He is looking for perfection; he wants to be perfect in every aspect of his game. Sometimes people told him to take things a little easier, but that's the way he is. I had the pleasure to work with him while was growing up, and he will keep working until he's 35."
Ronaldo has made 125 appearances for his country and is the all-time goal scorer with 56 goals. On the other hand, Figo made 127 appearances, and scored 32 goals. Both players have featured for Real Madrid and won important titles with the Spanish giants such as the La Liga and UEFA Champions League.
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