Over the past two decades, Cristiano Ronaldo has established himself as one of the greatest footballers to ever play the game. But there was a time in his young career when he might not even have been the best player on his academy team.
Starting at Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo rose through the ranks with another winger named Fabio Paim. It is rumored that Paim was the more talented of the couple. Or at least that’s what he will tell you.
According to Paim, now 36, he was destined for stardom and a better career than Ronaldo, but his work ethic let him down.
“He grew up with me, we spent a lot of time together,” Paim explained in a recent interview with Globo Esporte while reflecting on her relationship with Ronaldo.
“I was Sporting’s number one at that time. Cristiano started being Cristiano when he went to Manchester. Even then, no one knew it would become what it is today.
Fabio Paim (pictured) claimed he was better than Cristiano Ronaldo when they played together at Sporting Lisbon’s academy.
Ronaldo became a global superstar, while Paim never reached his potential.
Paim has now pursued a different career path as she works as a porn star.
‘Today Cristiano is the king, Paim is nobody. And people say “oh, he’s a liar, he wasn’t better.” But the truth is that I was better than him and everyone knows that. He had more talent. But talent is nothing, talent is just a little bit. If you don’t have the rest, you will be nobody.’
So is Paim telling the truth? A quote attributed to Ronaldo from when he first joined Manchester United in 2003 indicates he could be.
Ronaldo, who excelled at Old Trafford as a wiry teenager, told the media: “If you think I’m good, wait until you see Fabio Paim.”
They almost got their chance in 2008 when Paim moved to Chelsea on loan.
He joined Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team when he was 20, just months after Chelsea narrowly missed out on winning the Champions League and rubbed shoulders with the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
However, his stay in west London proved disastrous, as despite earning almost £50,000 a month, he failed to make a single appearance in a senior role.
After four months restricted to playing with the reserves, he returned to Portugal.
From there, Paim’s career petered out. The exciting talent who was supposed to be the next big thing never won a single cap for Portugal, and ended up playing football in obscure leagues in Angola, Qatar, Lithuania and Hungary before hanging up his boots after a spell in Poland in 2021. .
Was it simply due to his lack of work ethic? A deeper look at Paim’s life indicates that his behavior off the field may also have played a role in him not reaching his potential.
Paim has faced rape accusations twice, in Portugal in 2012 and three years later in Lithuania. On both occasions the cases did not lead to trial.
But in 2019 he did end up in jail after being arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking.
Paim spent a year in Caxias prison in Lisbon and revealed in an interview with the sun Last year he was able to watch his former teammate Ronaldo train from his cell.
Paim played for Portugal at youth level, but never won an international cap for his country.
Paim spent a year in Caxias prison after being arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking
Paim was able to see Ronaldo training with the Portuguese team from his cell
“From prison I could see the training ground of the Portuguese team,” he explained.
Maybe he would have wanted to be on the field with Ronaldo, but those days were behind him. Still, that hasn’t stopped Paim from remembering the past.
After being released from jail, Paim went on a podcast hosted by PT Clipes and made a cheeky request to Ronaldo.
“When I was happy I said I thought Cristiano Ronaldo could offer me a Ballon d’Or,” Paim said. ‘But it was with humility. If I had half of Cristiano’s head, it wouldn’t be him and Messi.
“It would be him, Messi and I and maybe he wouldn’t have won the Ballon d’Or that he has.” Maybe one of them was mine.
Ronaldo responded brutally on Instagram, writing: ‘Wtf??? Who is this guy? but Paim has insisted that this was an ironic comment of his former teammate.
However, those dreams of the Ballon d’Or and of sharing the pitch with Ronaldo again are over, as Paim has decided to embark on a completely new professional path.
She recently announced that she is now a porn star and filmed her first movie in September.
The response was positive, and Diana Melancia, one of two women who starred alongside Paim in a sex tape that went on sale overnight for £65 on Telegram, said the sun: ‘We thought he would get nervous and that it wouldn’t work, but Fabio turned out to be a lion.
“He was good at football and he’s good at porn. It’s going to be a hit. I hope this movie is the first of many with Paim.”
Paim himself is pleased with the reaction to his career change, having returned to the spotlight in recent months.
Paim has blatantly claimed that Ronaldo should give him one of his Ballon d’Ors
Paim is enjoying her new career as a porn star and has received positive feedback so far.
“Here in Portugal (news about the pornographic film) is in fashion, everyone is going crazy,” he told Globo Esporte.
‘Do you know why? Because people don’t take it the wrong way, that’s just me. In a podcast I said that my dream was to be a porn actor. I received many offers. I was on the news, I was on the front pages of the newspapers… And I had done nothing.
‘Since everyone was talking about it, (I thought) let’s make a movie. And I did it. I’ll tell you one thing. “It’s nice to have sex and still get paid for it.”
Paim was expected to succeed in his new industry, but he was also expected to thrive as a footballer.
After troubles on and off the court for the better part of 20 years, Paim is now looking to put that behind him as he begins his next adventure.