Cristiano Ronaldo went viral on social media recently due to his savage reply to a former Sporting Lisbon player, Fabio Paim. The Portuguese forward took it to social media to shut down a wild take about his Ballon d’Or record.
Fabio Paim rose to prominence recently with a wild take on a podcast, PT Clips. The former midfielder claimed that he deserves at least one of the five Ballon d’Ors of Cristiano Ronaldo. He even added that if he had even half of Ronaldo’s brain and mentality, the rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn’t exist. It would be Fabio Paim and Lionel Messi.
Paim stated on the podcast: “Cristiano Ronaldo should offer me one of his Ballon d’Or. 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.”
Former Sporting player Fabio Paim said that Ronaldo should give him one of his Ballon d’Ors…
Cristiano Ronaldo responds: “Wtf. Who is this guy?” 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/4RbagiaZY7
— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) November 20, 2023
The take didn’t reach mainstream prominence until Cristiano Ronaldo commented on the video on Instagram. The Portuguese shut the take by commenting: “Wtf. Who is this guy”? The comment went viral and drew more than 35,000 likes. The claim from Paim had numerous holes already and wasn’t even taken seriously by fans of the podcast but the response from Ronaldo left Paim with no place to hide.
Paim was part of the Sporting Lisbon academy back in the early 2000s and played for numerous clubs across several continents. The midfielder represented Portugal at youth level and retired from the sport back in 2021 after a stint with LZS Starowice.
Cristiano Ronaldo is nominated for Best Men’s Player at the Globe Soccer Awards
Ronaldo grabbed headlines when he missed out on the top 30 list for the Ballon d’Or, however, the case is different at the Globe Soccer Awards. The Al-Nassr forward is nominated alongside Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland for the Best Player award in the men’s category.
Karim Benzema won the award last year and has made the final nomination list this time around also. The accolade is awarded by a jury of 30 members, which includes key figures from the sport. An online fan vote is also conducted for this award. The result of the voting is combined with the jury’s votes to decide the winner on the basis of experts and fans.
🏆 #GlobeSoccer Awards 2023 nominees for BEST MEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR are: pic.twitter.com/cNwJfWr7BA
— Globe Soccer Awards (@Globe_Soccer) November 21, 2023
Ronaldo is also competing for The Maradona Award at the Globe Soccer Awards, the accolade is awarded to the player who has scored the most goals in the calendar year. Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappe will contest this award at the event. Erling Haaland is currently leading the race but Ronaldo might make a comeback in the last month of the year.