Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Mon 07 Jul 2006World Cup winners receive heroes' welcomeItaly's World Cup winners were welcomed home by scores of ecstatic fans this evening with celebrations starting as the plane taxied down the runway at Rome's military airport Practica di Mare.When Azzurri captain Fabio Cannavaro appeared at the doorway to hold aloft the World Cup trophy won in a penalty shoot-out against France on Sunday evening, the fans went wild.Cannavaro was followed down the steps by coach Marcello Lippi and the rest of the players, every one of whom was greeted by a cheer.As the players came out, military planes decorated the sky with the colours of the Italian flag, in an aerobatics show named "Berlin 2006" in honour of the team.This is the fourth time Italy have won the World Cup, the first since 1982, and it was made all the more sweet in the light of the match-fixing scandal in Serie A which has shocked the nation.