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‘Football came home’: Italy celebrates Euro 2020 victory over England

Italy's players were feted as heroes on Monday after beating England in a dramatic penalty shootout to win the Euro 2020 trophy, their second European title and first since 1968.

Published: 12 July 2021 08:24 CEST
'Football came home': Italy celebrates Euro 2020 victory over England
Italy's team captain Giorgio Chiellini carries the Euro 2020 trophy back to Rome. Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP

Roberto Mancini’s side won 3-2 on penalties after the match at Wembley had finished 1-1 after extra time.

“We are happy to have given joy and hope to the Italians after such a difficult period,” Mancini told reporters as the team touched down in Rome on Monday, where they were greeted by some 200 fans chanting: “We’re the champions of Europe!”

READ ALSO: ‘You need to eat more pasta’: The most Italian reactions to Italy’s Euro 2020 win 

No victory parade was expected given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, after a few hours at their hotel, the besuited squad attended a ceremony at the palace of President Sergio Mattarella, who himself had been at Wembley for Sunday’s match.

Italy’s coach Roberto Mancini (L) and Italy’s captain Giorgio Chiellini carry the UEFA EURO 2020 trophy. Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP

From Milan to Palermo, celebrations went late into the night after Sunday’s match.

In the heart of Rome, a concert of car horns and foghorns rang out amid a cloud of smoke from firecrackers.

At the final whistle, thousands of fans draped in Italian flags left fan zones installed near the Colosseum and Piazza del Popolo to converge on Piazza Venezia, at the foot of the monument to King Victor-Emmanuel II, father of Italian unification.

“Forza Italia! Campioni d’Europa!” roared the supporters: “Come on Italy, champions of Europe!”

Supporters set off flares and fireworks in Piazza Venezia, Rome. Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP

The European football crown returns to Italy three years after the four-time world champions failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years.

Chiellini on Monday dedicated the win to the Italian fans and former Italy and Fiorentina defender Davide Astori, who died aged 31 after suffering a cardiac arrest before an Italian league match in 2018.

Addressing the audience in the grounds of Mattarella’s Quirinale palace, he paid tribute to his teammates.

“We are not here because we scored an extra penalty, but because we believed in the values of friendship,” he said. “This success is a group victory. This bond made us feel like brothers of Italy to answer the call together.”

Watching the match in the fan zone in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo. Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

Few of the crowds at Sunday’s celebrations wore masks, which have not been mandatory outdoors in Italy since the end of June.

Discussions were held on whether or not to install a giant screen at the Stadio Olimpico, but the authorities, fearing an outbreak of the Delta variant, decided against the idea.

READ ALSO: Delta variant in Italy will be ‘prevalent within 10 days’: health official

On paper, large gatherings were prohibited. But it was difficult, in reality, to prevent young and old from finally meeting after months of lockdown when they were deprived of social life.

Under the pines of Via dei Fori Imperiali, the police watched the procession of jubilant supporters.

Celebrations in Rome. Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

Beyond the sporting performance, Italy wants to believe that the coronation as European champions will help the country definitively close the fatal chapter of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For fan Pierluigi de Amicis, “it’s a rescue, after a year and a half of pandemic, suffering, death”.

Greengrocer Matteo Falovo spoke for many when he said that after 17 months of the virus, which hit Italy hard, it had been “a pleasure to be able to think about something else”.

Fans celebrate in Milan. Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP

Corriere della Sera, Italy’s biggest selling newspaper, wrote on Sunday: “After the greatest post-war Italian tragedy, Italians are smiling again.”

“IT’S OURS! Football came home,” read the Corriere dello Sport.

“England beaten on penalties, Italy in the streets to celebrate the Cup.”

Mancini’s men recovered from the shock of conceding the quickest goal ever in a European Championship final to equalise and held their nerve to claim a shootout victory after extra time failed to break the draw.

“We did well,” Mancini told RAI Sport. “We conceded a goal straight away and struggled, but then we dominated the game.

“The lads were wonderful, I don’t know what more to say. It’s important for all the people and all the fans.”

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CRIME

Spain women’s World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

The crisis within Spanish football deepened Friday as the women's World Cup winners demanded more heads roll at its scandal-hit RFEF federation whose disgraced ex-boss appeared in court on sexual assault charges.

Published: 16 September 2023 07:56 CEST
Spain women's World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

Just hours after Luis Rubiales was quizzed by a judge for kissing midfielder Jenni Hermoso, all but two of Spain’s 23 World Cup players said they would not don the national shirt without deeper changes within the RFEF, demanding its current interim head also resign.

The statement came as the squad’s new coach Montse Tome was to announce the lineup for two upcoming UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland, which was promptly postponed, federation sources said.

“The changes put in place are not enough,” said a statement signed by 39 players, among them 21 of the 23 World Cup winners.

Demanding “fundamental changes to the RFEF’s leadership”, they called for the “resignation of the RFEF president” Pedro Rocha, who took over as interim leader when FIFA suspended Rubiales on August 26.

But the federation insisted Rocha would “lead the transition process within the RFEF until the next election”, insisting any changes would be made “gradually”.

A federation source said a leadership election could take place early next year.

“This institution is more important than individuals and it’s crucial it remains strong. We’ll work tirelessly to create stability first in order to progress later,” Rocha said in the statement.

Despite a string of recent changes, the federation remains in the hands of officials appointed by Rubiales, and the players are demanding structural changes “within the office of the president and the secretary general”.

Brought to court by a kiss

The bombshell came after days of optimism within the RFEF that the players would come round after it sacked controversial coach Jorge Vilda, appointed Tome in his stead and pledged further changes, not to mention Rubiales’ long-awaited resignation on Sunday.

On August 25, 81 Spain players, including the 23 world champions, had started a mass strike saying they would not play for the national team without significant changes at the head of the federation.

Earlier on Friday, Rubiales appeared in court where he was quizzed by Judge Francisco de Jorge who is heading up the investigation into the kiss, which sparked international outrage and saw him brought up on sexual assault charges.

At the end of the closed-door hearing, in which Rubiales repeated his claim that the kiss was consensual, the judge ordered him not to come within 200 metres of Hermoso and barred him from any contact with the player.

At the weekend, the 46-year-old had described the kiss as “a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was… 100 percent non-sexual” in an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Hermoso, 33, has insisted it was not, describing it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part”.

Speaking to reporters outside court, Hermoso’s lawyer Carla Vall said they were “very satisfied” with the hearing.

“Thanks to this video, everyone can see there was no consent whatsoever and that is what we will demonstrate in court.”

Allegations of coercion

Hermoso herself will also testify before the judge at some stage, who will then have to decide whether or not to push ahead with the prosecution. No date has been given for her testimony.

The complaint against Rubiales, which was filed by the public prosecutors’ office, cites alleged offences of sexual assault and coercion.

Under a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a category which groups all types of sexual violence.

If found guilty, Rubiales could face anything from a fine to four years in prison, sources at the public prosecutors’ office have said.

In their complaint, prosecutors explained the offence of coercion related to Hermoso’s statement saying she “and those close to her had suffered constant ongoing pressure by Luis Rubiales and his professional entourage to justify and condone” his actions.

At the hearing, Rubiales also denied coercion.

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