Rome - Jubilant Italians cleared their heads from the glorious night before and readied themselves on Monday for a giant party to welcome home their footballing heroes, who are scheduled to hold a victory parade through Rome to show off the World Cup.
Prime Minister Romano Prodi prepared to tap into the new feelgood factor by officially welcoming home the victorious team at 17:30 GMT.
The team is then scheduled to parade the trophy from an open-top bus through the cobblestoned streets of the Eternal City.
Predictably, a triumphant Italian press hailed their World Cup winners as legends, saying their victory over France had deservedly delivered the nation and themselves proper acclaim.
"The world belongs to us," headlined the left-leaning La Repubblica, writing of "emotion, tension and joy" right up to the final whistle in Sunday's final in Berlin, eventually won on penalties after the match finished 1-1 in extra-time.
The Corriere della Sera, Italy's biggest-selling newspaper, indulged in a little triumphalism.
"We are champions because we are Italian," the paper said in an editorial. From now on "everywhere on Planet Earth, the white red and green passport of Italy will be stamped with admiration."
"In 25 years time, when the young generation who slept in wonder after a night of festivities has grown up, there will be memories. In the souvenir album of life, July 9, 2006 will be written large," it wrote.
"On top of the world," blared La Stampa on its front page, calling it "the craziest month for Italy" ranging from victory in the World Cup to the scandal of alleged match-fixing involving four of the country's top clubs including champions Juventus.
La Stampa, like many of the other newspapers, bore a full-page picture of a dozen hands holding aloft the trophy after the match.
"You were magnificent," said the Rome daily Il Messaggero.
The press also roundly condemned French captain Zinedine Zidane's head-butt on defender Marco Materazzi in the second period of extra-time, for which he was sent off.
"Zizou, an inglorious goodbye," wrote the Corriere dello Sport. La Gazzetta called it "a malicious end" to his career, while the Corriere della Sera said it was "the warrior's last act of madness."
"France, perhaps more than Italy, needed a victory to sweep out the feeling of depression and suspicion crossing the country," the Corriere della Sera went on.
For French President Jacques Chirac, "near to his own goodbye, it would have been a last hurrah in a glorious atmosphere. But in a somewhat unreal silence in the Parisian night, only a few thousand Italians were having a party."
It seemed the whole country was glued to their television screens. According to figures released by national TV monitor Auditel, 23.9 million people followed the match on public broadcaster RAI, with the figure spiking to 25.4 million, or 87% of audience share, during the penalty shoot-out.
AFP
