Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini held aloft the gleaming trophy before a crowd of joyful fans on Monday as he and his triumphant team returned home from their victory against England in Euro 2020.
There were euphoric scenes overnight following Sunday’s victory at Wembley, as fans draped in the tricolour flag thronged streets across Italy and the sound of fireworks and beeping cars and scooters filled the air.
And there was elation among a group who got up early — or never went to bed — to greet the Azzurri as they arrived back in Rome on Monday morning, fronted by Chiellini, the 36-year-old veteran at the heart of Italy’s defence, wearing a crown.
A grinning Leonardo Spinazzola, who played an outstanding role in the team’s progress before injuring his Achilles tendon in the quarter-final against Belgium, had earlier hopped down the steps of the plane at Rome’s Fiumicino and hobbled on crutches across the tarmac to cheers from media and airport staff snapping photographs.
The boys in blue chanted “We’re the champions of Europe!” as they piled out of the coach that whisked them from the airport to the hotel in Rome where they were headed for a rest — or to continue the celebrations.
They were invited to meet with Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Monday evening and also with President Sergio Mattarella, who himself was in London to watch the match.
Roberto Mancini’s men recovered from the shock of a rapid early England goal to equalise and then claim a 3-2 victory on penalties.
“It’s too beautiful!”, proclaimed the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper, saying: “Italy is the queen of Europe.
“It knew how to recover a match that seemed lost, as only the greatest teams know how.
“Finally Wembley falls silent, after having whistled, shouted, howled. Every single Italian during those two hours felt like a giant once more”.
