Rome - Italy's jubilant World Cup winners arrived back home with the coveted trophy on Monday amid a welter of excitement in Rome as fans prepared an emotional reception on the streets of the capital.
The team's plane touched down at a military airbase outside Rome shortly before an official parade through the capital's historic centre which was to culminate in a giant party at the ancient Circus Maximus.
Skipper Fabio Cannavaro held the trophy aloft as the plane doors opened, raising huge cheers from a few hundred fans at the base.
Italy's air force acrobatic team, trailing smoke, painted the sky in the green, white and red colours of the national flag during repeated fly-pasts.
The team and officials were immediately whisked off to an official reception hosted by Prime Minister Romano Prodi, before a planned parade through the historic centre on an open-topped bus.
Sapa-AFP
