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BIG Phil Scolari adopted an identical approach to Fergie to ensure Cristiano Ronaldo's raw talent would explode on the world stage. Chelsea's former Portugal boss believed United's star-in-the-making was immature, exuberant and selfish but also a prodigy as far as technique and skill were concerned. And during Portugal's preparations for Euro 2004, Scolari copied the `softly-softly' style gradually introducing the 18-year-old into the big time. Ex-Portugal press officer and Scolari biographer Jose Carlos Freitas insists: "Just like Sir Alex Ferguson, Scolari knew he had to be patient with Ronaldo, help him grow as a man, polish him as a player, work on him like a master jeweller might." In his book Luiz Felipe Scolari: The Man, The Manager, Freitas says Scolari saw Ronaldo as a `diamond in the raw'. He went on: "Evidently... [read full story]
