Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or victory was met with a number of diverse reactions. We already chimed in with some of the Twitter reactions and the words of the winner himself. But how did the Spanish press, which has maintained a contentious relationship with the superstar over the year, react to the victory? With open arms and some sarcasm.
Marca put Ronaldo on the front page with the word "Lloro" printed in huge letters and the last three letters "oro" highlighted; "Lloro" means "cried" while "oro" means goal.
As Editor Alfredo Relano wrote, "Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2013 Ballon d'Or, and it was fully justified...This has been a bad year for Messi, while Cristiano has maintained his insistence on excellence. Ribery, 'the best of the rest' was just third. Which is already a lot."
El Pais' Jose Samano wrote about the humanizing effect of Ronaldo's crying and his appearance onstage with his 3-year-old son had on the speech.
"With his son in tow, Cristiano left in Zurich an image to remember, the poster of an emotional hero, a mortal divinity," said Samano, according to ESPN. "Bit by bit, Cristiano has left behind the image of a capricious show-off. We now see a superstar footballer who is more and more commendable, a person who is more and more substantial."
Of course, those in Catalonia, the fans of Barcelona, were unhappy with Messi's loss to Ronaldo and some publications questioned Ronaldo's victory and also made space to emphasize Messi's aim to win his fifth in 2014.