Excitement, surprise and emotion-packed moments were all in abundance at Zurich's TPC Studios on Monday 9 January 2017 at the very first edition of The Best FIFA Football Awards™, which honoured the finest players and coaches in the global game.
The impact of the event was felt the length and breadth of Planet Football, where the individual honours went to Cristiano Ronaldo, Carli Lloyd, Claudio Ranieri, Silva Neid and Mohd Faiz Subri. FIFA.com takes a look at some of the reactions to the results from Zurich.
Ronaldo takes centre stage The Portuguese superstar, who claimed The Best FIFA Men's Player award for 2016, earned pride of place in the online editions of Spanish sports dailies Marca and AS, who quoted the Real Madrid player's post-award acceptance words of "The Best went to the best, which is me". Both features were accompanied by images of a broadly smiling Ronaldo.
Portuguese publication A Bola highlighted the views of former Spain full-back Michel Salgado, who observed that he had only witnessed a winner's mindset like Ronaldo's in Luis Figo, a colleague of Salgado's at Real Madrid, and had no hesitation in stating that CR7's award win was "very fair" after his spectacular 2016.
Argentina's Diario Olé, for their part, picked out the amusing comments of Diego Armando Maradona who, before handing over The Best FIFA Men's Coach award to Claudio Ranieri admitted that, for him, playing football came just as naturally as walking or sleeping. In contrast, when in a coaching role: "I couldn't even walk or sleep!"
Staying on Ranieri, the digital edition of Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport published a video on the award win of the 65-year-old Rome-born strategist, titling it: "The crowning of King Claudio". Ronaldinho, in turn, dedicated a moving message to Ranieri via Twitter.
Social media The social networking landscape was buzzing throughout the day, particularly after the ceremony had concluded. Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder Mario Gotze congratulated his club's fans on receiving a deserved FIFA Fan Award 2016, awarded to supporters of Dortmund and Liverpool, following a remarkable joint rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" on the day prior to the 27th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
Mohd Faiz Subri, meanwhile, uploaded to Twitter the speech he had looked up on his mobile phone after winning the FIFA Puskás Award for 2016, for which he garnered 59.46 per cent of the total votes.
Moreover, the kind gestures continued to flow from the winners' team-mates and colleagues. Real Madrid and Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas was quick to congratulate his five club-mates included in the FIFA FIFPro World11, while fellow Los Blancos' stalwart Casemiro also made clear his pride at sharing a dressing room with so many lauded performers. Thomas Muller of Germany also had his say, congratulating those of his national-squad colleagues selected in said ideal XI for 2016.
Experienced US custodian Tim Howard, a veteran of FIFA World Cups™ in 2006, 2010 and 2014, congratulated Carli Lloyd, winner of The Best FIFA Women's Player award, as did US Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati, who shared how it felt to be present to witness the crowning of the 34-year-old midfielder and FIFA Women's World Cup 2015™ winner.
Last but by no means least, Faustino Asprilla, capped 57 times by Colombia and a league title winner with Atletico Nacional in 1991, expressed his pride at the FIFA Fair Play Award given to the Colombian outfit, after El Verdolaga ceded the Copa Sudamericana title to Brazilian opponents Chapecoense, involved in a tragic plane accident on their way to the first leg of the final.