Fabio Paim has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo told him that he was the only player that was better than him before he was sentenced to prison.
Paim failed to reach the pinnacle in the football world like his childhood pal due to his partying lifestyle.
Paim, who also hails from Portugal, now claimed that he had to watch Cristiano Ronaldo practice with Portugal national team through the prison window.
Fabio Paim was a talented youngster that led others in Sporting Academy including Ronaldo who was his senior then.
“If you think I’m good, wait until you see Fabio Paim,” was Ronaldo’s statement when Fabio Paim joined Manchester United in 2003.
However, the Portuguese failed to show the world his talent and this was due to his extravagant lifestyle which made him end up in prison.
Paim, 35, recently had an interview with The Sun, and stated that: “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”.
Fabio Paim also went on to add; “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 to wherever.”
“But yes at that time I was better than Cristiano. I believe he should give me one of his Ballon d’Ors!”
The failed Portuguese footballer was also asked if he would have won Ballon d’Or and been considered the best in the world technically, Paim responded, “Yes, no doubt.”
Ronaldo won several awards, including winning the Euro 2016 with Portugal, but Paim failed to make even one competitive first-team appearance for Sporting.
Futballnews understands that Fabio Paim signed for Chelsea on loan in 2008 and was with his National teammates Deco and Ricardo Carvalho.
Fabio Paim also revealed that he was shocked at the money he amassed which he wasted on cars, women, drinks, and parties.
Speaking in the interview with the sun, he said, “Unfortunately for me, I was born with talent. As I was earning lots of money, I got the illusion I didn’t need the effort. It is impossible for a person like me to be a millionaire.”
“I regret some of my choices. Now I’m at a different age so can see the picture differently. The talent was there but my mind wasn’t. My head was on women and partying, everywhere else apart from football.”
“I played some matches but my body was not in its best shape and didn’t respond to what people were demanding from me because if I could, I would have been at Barcelona or Real Madrid.”
Fabio Paim
Fábio Miguel Malheiro Paím is a Portuguese former professional footballer who was born on 15 February, 1988 and played as a winger.
He was considered a promising player while he was at Sporting CP, even by Cristiano Ronaldo, another alumnus of the Sporting CP Youth Academy, but he would go on to have no real impact on the game.
Following a fruitless four-month loan stint with Chelsea in 2008, he played for numerous smaller clubs across multiple nations, never settling down, until he bowed out of the game.
What Happened To Paim?
In both 2012 and 2015, Fabio Paim was found not guilty of any sexual offenses in Portugal or Lithuania.
He was taken into custody by the Public Security Police in August 2019 when they discovered an unknown quantity of illegal narcotics in his hands in Estoril.
On the basis that wiretapping was not admissible evidence in a court of law, he was ultimately found not guilty. He was incarcerated at Caxias Prison.
