For Cristiano Ronaldo to admit that someone else was better than him is quite an achievement. The person who has that honor is Fabio Paim. Fabio Paim was a winger who played the sport from 2007 until 2018.
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.
Cristiano Ronaldo
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!”
