“Cristiano Ronaldo should offer me one of his Ballon d’Ors,” Paim said in an appearance on a podcast hosted by PT Clipes, via Goal. “I went to Sporting when I was seven years old, I grew up there. They were years of glory in which I won everything I could. I didn’t reach where I could have reached, but I marked a generation. If people don’t forget it’s because I marked them.”

Paim was regarded as a promising talent during his youth, but he failed to live up to those expectations. He never settled in Sporting CP’s first team and bounced around different places on loan, failing to establish himself at any of those clubs. He even spent four months on loan at Chelsea, but didn’t get to play a single minute. Even so, Paim believes he could have been special.

“I said when I was happy that I thought Cristiano Ronaldo could offer me a Ballon d’Or. But it was with humility. If I had half of Cristiano’s head, it wouldn’t be him and Messi. It would be me, him and Messi and maybe he wouldn’t have won the Ballon d’Or that he has. Maybe one of them was mine.”

Paim’s bold comments made so much noise that even Ronaldo heard them. In fact, the Portuguese superstar reacted to the video posted by PT Clipes on Instagram, throwing shade at Paim. “Wtf. Who is this guy?,” Ronaldo wrote.

Lionel Messi seems to win Ballon d’Or battle against Ronaldo

While Paim claims he could’ve challenged for the world’s best player status, the truth is that no one came close to Messi and Ronaldo during their prime. For years, the Ballon d’Or conversation was reduced to Leo and CR7.

But the Argentine star took off in the last few years, extending his lead to a record eight awards. Ronaldo, on the other hand, remains with five prizes, having last won the Ballon d’Or in 2017.

At 38, Cristiano is spending his sunset years in Saudi Arabia, so chances are Messi’s record will be safe in the foreseeable. Besides, Ronaldo wasn’t even in the 30-man shortlist this year.

Either way, Messi knows this may have been his last Ballon d’Or. “If I dream for the ninth Ballon d’Or? No, no, I stopped thinking about the Ballon d’Or a while ago, and winning it was never a priority for me, especially now that I have achieved everything in my career. I think it’s the last Ballon d’Or and I’m happy to have achieved everything and be the player with 8 Ballon d’Ors,” he told L’Equipe.

Messi shows nothing but respect for Ronaldo

Following his eighth Ballon d’Or victory, Messi reflected on his rivalry with Ronaldo when both were in their prime in LaLiga. Leo was the face of a star-studded Barcelona, while Cristiano stole the limelight at Real Madrid.

“It was a great battle, from a sporting point of view. We fed off each other’s rivalry because we’re both great competitors. He, too, always wanted to win everything, all the time. It was a very enjoyable time for both of us and for everyone who loves football,” Messi said in the same interview with the French outlet.

Along the way he played for various clubs including Sporting Lisbon, Chelsea, among others. Paim even played with the Portugal youth national teams until 2008. Paim and Cristiano were such good friends, they even ate at McDonald’s together as youth.

When CR7 arrived at Manchester United in 2003 he publicly stated, “If you think I’m good, wait until you see Fabio Paim.” After a stint in prison the former friend of Cristiano Ronaldo speaks about his life of excess and crime.

Fabio Paim on Cristiano Ronaldo

Paim’s professional career spun out of control due to huge paydays early on in his career and nights of women, booze, and partying. By 2012 he began his legal troubles first being acquitted of sex crimes and later in 2019 he was arrested by the Public Security Police after an undetermined amount of illegal drugs was found in his possession in Estoril.

While Paim would eventually be acquitted and his sporting career was all but over, he did see his one time friend practicing through the prison window where he was detained with the Portuguese national team.

Speaking to SunSport, Paim said, “I was really special. I must be humble, but this is the truth. Unfortunately, back then there was not Instagram or Facebook, nothing was recorded like nowadays, but I strongly and honestly believe that until today there was no other like me with the same quality I had.

“Cristiano, for all his effort and hard work, went to a level he deserves. But when I was playing, if I had the same effort and commitment, I would be better than him. If I speak about technique, I was better. I was a small Ronaldinho. But as we can see, it’s not the technique that leads us too wherever.

“But yes, at that time I was better than Cristiano. I believe he should give me one of his Ballons d’Or!”