Italy'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.
A verdict is expected to be delivered this week and could mean that Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina, are all relegated from Serie A.
Thirteen members of the Italian squad play with the clubs accused of influencing referee appointments.
Italy beat France 5-3 on penalties in Berlin yesterday in a game which will be remembered for the dramatic dismissal of French captain Zinedine Zidane who was drawing the curtain on what has been a glittering career.
Zidane was dismissed during extra-time after headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest, in his final game as a player.
Following their departure from the airport, the national team then travelled to the Presidential Chigi Palace in Rome.
The team is now on its way to Rome to be feted by President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Romano Prodi before being hailed by tens of thousands of fans at the Circus Maximus, once the scene of Roman chariot races.
Meanwhile, the defeated French squad returned home this afternoon where they were greeted by several thousand fans who cheered on the players as they were welcomed back by President Jacues Chirac.
A sheepish-looking Zidane bowed before the flag-waving crowds as one-by-one the French players stepped forward on the balcony of a luxury hotel to greet their die-hard supporters.
"Zizou for president," fans chanted, referring to Zidane's nickname, calling him back for a second curtain call that suggested they had forgiven his red mist.
Despite the controversy surrounding his dismissal, the French President had only praise for an "exceptional captain", the team and much-criticised coach Raymond Domenech as he greeted the team at his Elysee Palace.
"Dear Zinedine Zidane, what I want to express to you at this perhaps most intense and difficult time in your career, is the admiration and the affection of the whole nation - it's respect too," Chirac said.
"You are a virtuoso, a genius of world football. You are also a man of the heart, of commitment, of conviction, and that's why France admires and loves you."
