The famous football star once went through a difficult period.

Cristiano Ronaldo, now one of the wealthiest figures in football with an impressive collection of luxury cars and watches, enjoys a lifestyle that many can only dream of.

But before achieving this level of success, Ronaldo’s life was a far cry from the opulence he experiences today. A hearty meal was once a rare treat for him. Fabio Paim, Ronaldo’s former teammate at Sporting Lisbon’s Youth Academy and a close friend, has shared a poignant story that highlights just how challenging Ronaldo’s early life was.

Sharing with The Sun, Fabio Paim said: ” During the day, we trained and played football at the academy. In the evening, we often hung around the fast food restaurant waiting to pick up leftover burgers that were left behind and could no longer be sold .”

CR7 had a difficult time as a child.

According to Fabio Paim, he first met CR7 when he was 8 years old. The two had a great time together. Fabio Paim commented on his friend as follows: ” Cristiano Ronaldo is a very hard-working person, always dedicated and eager to be the best. He has always been like that, will feel sad when losing. Those efforts have helped CR7 get to where he is today. And now even though he no longer needs to prove his ability, CR7 has never given up .”

Ronaldo studied at Sporting Lisbon from 1997 to 2002. He then left and joined Manchester United, scoring a total of 118 goals. Since the beginning of this year, the striker has joined Al Nassr and is currently receiving the highest income in the football world.

Fabio Paim now.

In fact, Ronaldo had a difficult childhood. His mother once confided that she tried to abort the fetus in her womb many times when she was pregnant with CR7 because of her poor circumstances. His mother was just a small cook, and CR7’s father was an alcoholic gardener. Therefore, hunger always haunted CR7’s family for a long time.

Fabio Paim also shared with the media about CR7’s famous saying in the past: “If you think I’m good, wait until you meet Fabio Paim”. This is a rare time CR7 praised the football talent of others. Fabio Paim said he could play better than Cristiano Ronaldo but could not work as hard as CR7. He used to earn a lot of money and become famous very early but fell into the path of addiction and debauchery.

” When I earned a lot of money, I thought that I didn’t need to make an effort and all the best things would come to me. Because I was born with talent. At the age of 13, I earned a huge amount of money, everything came so quickly ,” Fabio Paim confided.

CR7 has always been working tirelessly.

Later, he burned money on all-night parties and lavish spending on supercars. Instead of focusing on training, he indulged in a decadent lifestyle. Currently, Fabio Paim is starting over after his past mistakes.