France football team head coach Didier Deschamps led the eulogies on Tuesday for the Paris Saint-Germain and France international striker Ousmane Dembélé who won the Ballon d'Or on Monday night.
"I am proud of him and his success," said Deschamps after Dembélé had acknowledged him during an emotional acceptance speech in front of a dazzling array of the sport's most famous players and coaches.
"It's wonderful," Deschamps added. "I'm very happy for him. He is in the global spotlight."
The former Brazil striker Ronaldinho presented Dembélé with football's most prestigious individual prize at the end of a gala ceremony at the at the Theatre du Chatelet in central Paris.
Dembélé, 28, was saluted for a sensational season with Paris Saint-Germain in which they completed a second successive domestic clean sweep of Ligue 1 title, Coupe de France and French Super Cup.
They also pulverized Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich in May to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time.
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Key man
Dembélé set up two of the goals in the final. Unsurprisingly, they were anointed men's team of the year.
"He hasn't had the most straightforward of careers," said Deschamps.
"There have been lots of injuries but he has always had this ability, this strength, to play down the drama and tell himself that he would come back stronger.
"He came to into the France team when he was 19 and I thought he had enormous potential and everything it takes to succeed at the highest level.
"It took time but today he is a Ballon d'Or winner."
Dembélé's success at the expense of the likes of the Barcelona striker Yamine Lamal and several PSG teammates such as Vitinha, Désiré Doué and Fabian Ruiz, makes him the sixth Frenchman to lift an accolade set up by France Football magazine in 1956.
"I'm super happy for him," said Marseille striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who played with Dembélé at Borussia Dortmund in Germany in the 2016/2017 Bundesliga season.
"He's someone I appreciate enormously and the award is entirely merited. There is no argument. If you know anything about football, you cannot disagree with him getting the award."
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Road to redemption
His victory also furnishes the disillusioned or disparaged with a compelling template for redemption.
Last December, PSG boss Luis Enrique left him out of the squad to play at Arsenal during the league phase of the 2024/2025 competition after a row during a game at Rennes.
He was eventually rehabilitated and Enrique - who won the coach of the year trophy on Monday night - moved him in from the right wing into the centre.
A glut of goals followed as Dembélé morphed from gawky inaccuracy into a sleek goal machine.
He hit 25 in 20 games from December to March to allow the PSG faithful to forget the departure to Real Madrid of their former darling Kylian Mbappé.
As Dembélé celebrated with friends and family, the France skipper posted a message on his social media page.
"Really, really pleased for you, my brother," Mbappé said. "You deserve it a thousand fold."
Bixente Lizarazu, who won the 1998 World Cup in the team skippered by Deschamps, told the French broadcaster Franceinfo: "I'm not surprised. He played a great season with PSG both individually and collectively.
"And it's not something that was ever expected. He had a difficult time at Barcelona with injuries and living in Messi's shadow and it wasn't always easy with Enrique.
"But he has become the symbol of the PSG collective."
PSG supremos saluted the first player from the club to win the Ballon d'Or by unveiling a collector's edition T-shirt.
"It's a powerful way to celebrate the achievements of an exceptional talent, enhanced by the rest of the team," said a club spokesperson.
"It offers fans a unique souvenir of this historic moment."
(with newswires)
