Italia, Champions Of The World
Celebrations continue in Italy and around the world, as players land in Rome amid 600,000 supporters.





Official Penalty Kick Scorecard
Italy, Andrea Pirlo Goal 1:0

France, Wiltord Sylvain Goal 1:1

Italy, Marco Materazzi Goal 2:1

FRA, David Trezeguet Crossbar 2:1

Italy, Daniele De Rossi Goal 3:1

France, Eric Abidal Goal 3:2

Italy, Del Piero Goal 4:2

France, Willy Sagnol Goal 4:3

Italy, Fabio Grosso Goal 5:3

The Italian players celebrated with almost uncontrollable joy. They carried their cigar-smoking, tough-talking coach Lippi on their shoulders. Finally they took the trophy out of the stadium with Nessum Dorma being played: this night was every Italian's greatest dream.

Against the backdrop of its biggest soccer scandal in history, Italy won a fourth World Cup on Sunday, beating France 5-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie.

Italy's players were certainly not thinking about their uncertain future after Fabio Grosso converted the decisive penalty kick in the shootout, or the verdicts from a sports tribunal looking into the allegations, which could come with celebrations still in full swing. Coach Marcello Lippi smoked a cigar and was carried aloft by the team. Players sang, danced and screamed for nearly an hour after the game was over. Defender Marco Materazzi placed a red, white and green top hat on the Jules Rimet Trophy before Cannavaro raised the cup.

Celebrations Extend To Australia
ALMOST 8000 people simultaneously screamed in joy in Melbourne's Lygon Street as Italy this morning won its fourth World Cup final.As Italy made its fifth penalty goal in a row, the crowd began screaming, hugging each other, jumping up and down and chanting "Italia" at the top of their voices. Several flares were set off.

CELEBRATIONS spilled into the streets as Adelaide's Italian community rejoiced in a result they had only dreamed - their team's World Cup triumph.From Rundle St to the Italian Centre, fans frantically waved Italian flags, loudly cheering as Italy was declared the best soccer team in the world. In what has become a familiar site over the course of the World Cup, Rundle St turned into party central, as car horns blared and friends embraced each other in relief.

An almighty roar marked the realisation of Italy's World Cup dream by up to 10,000 patriots who packed into their Sydney heartland to watch their team claim victory today.Red flares and fireworks lit up the icy Sydney morning above Norton Street at Leichhardt as friends embraced strangers in a crush of Italian jubilation.Standing outside the Martini Bar, atop a car sporting the red, white and green of the Italian flag, a group of 20 young Italian men screamed and hugged each other.


Campioni del Mondo!
The entire globe can hear 60 million Italians screaming “Campioni del Mondo!”. The explosion of joy spreading from the Alps to Sicily was ignited by Argentinean referee Helizondo Horacio closing the World Cup Final game, Italy v France after the penalty shootout.

Italy grabs its 4th World Cup 24 years after the masterful victory over Germany in the last all-European Final in Spain 1982.





Every living member of the 1982 World Cup Champion Azzurri were present in Berlin to witness a fourth championship for their country.


Little Italy is throwing a big party that is sure to go long into the night following Team Italy's thrilling World Cup victory on Sunday. After the Azzurri ousted France 5-3 on penalty kicks, more than 10,000 Italian-Canadians poured onto College Street in downtown Toronto, shutting down the major artery. Joyous fans shouting "Viva Italia!" waved flags, danced, chanted, cheered and hugged each other in celebration.

Tornonto is the largest Italian community (450,000 Italians) outside of Rome.


Official Play-by-Play Call
The young man here from Palermo, for Italy to win the World Cup, he does it! And the man who beat Germany, Fabio Grossso does it again! The Azzurri are World Champions of 2006!


Fans Flock To Rome To Welcome Heroes

ROME, July 10 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Italians gathered on Monday in Circus Maximus, one of ancient Rome's most famous stadiums, to fete their own conqering heroes after the national soccer team's World Cup victory in Germany.

A deafening roar, fireworks and a sea of flags greeted the team's open-topped bus when, at almost 11:00 pm (2100 GMT), it finally entered the vast rectangular arena that used to house chariot races.



The crowd had been building since late afternoon after the team returned home from a triumph that took minds off the imminent outcome of a match-fixing trial.
The mayor's office estimated the crowd at 600,000, with hundreds of thousands more who accompanied the bus in its snail's paced progress from a reception at Prime Minister Romano Prodi's residence a few kilometres way.

The revelers had prepared for the party by parading an ornate funeral hearse carrying a coffin covered by a French flag to symbolise Italy's victory in Sunday's final.

Team coach Marcello Lippi and his players clambered onto a stage and raised the golden Cup one by one as loudspeakers blared out Italy's national anthem and rock group Queen's modern-day sporting anthem, 'We are the Champions.'
On a hot night under a full moon the team danced and sang along with abandon for about 40 minutes, led by Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero who stripped to the waist.

'Thank you for restoring to our national soccer, hit by an unprecedented storm, the dignity it deserves,' Prodi told the players, who were presented to the crowd and awarded individual medals.


Italian media hails Azzurri glory against odds

ROME, July 10 (Reuters) - The Italian media struggled on Monday to come to terms with the victory of the national soccer team in Sunday's World Cup final, barely able to believe they had overcome scandal and setbacks to win.

'It's all true! Champions of the world,' screamed the front page headline of sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport.
'We are the champions of the world, although no one thought we would be and no one wanted us to be,' columnist Mario Sconcerti wrote in Corriere della Sera.

Despite the street parades, the fireworks and the explosions of joy in front of the big screens it will take some time for the realisation of the moment to sink in.

A generation has almost passed since Italy last lifted the top trophy in world football and people will have simply not have known what to say in offices on Monday except "Campioni del mondo" (world champions), which was still being shouted ad nauseam through the Berlin night and dawn.

Materazzi admits to insulting Zidane
Materazzi, 32, told Gazetta dello Sport: 'I held his shirt for a few seconds only, then he turned to me and talked to me, jeering.
'He looked at me with a huge arrogance and said, `If you really want my shirt I'll give it to you afterwards'. I replied with an insult, that's true.'



"People needed this joy and we have given it to them,” Buffon.

The players at times were as delirious as their fans. Francesco Totti, a hometown hero, leaned out of a window in the premier's office and held the trophy out to the crowd below, which roared in delight.
Fans danced with joy as a plump, reddish moon shone in the sky above Rome. Fireworks added more color to the sky.

For hours after Sunday's victory, joyous fans hit the streets in droves, waving flags, setting off fireworks and stripping down to their underwear and jumping into fountains.
A 20-year-old man drowned near the northern sea resort of Santa Margherita - and his body was found Monday morning, still wrapped in an Italian flag, according to the ANSA news agency.


Front Pages of the World Coming Soon

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