ROME _ Exhulting fans in Italy tore through the streets on foot,
bicycles, mopeds and cars, shouting and honking their horns after the Azzurri
made it to the World Cup final by beating Germany 2-0 early Wednesday.
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Italian fans celebrate Italy's victory in the World Cup 2006
semi-final match against Germany in downtown Rome July 4, 2006.
[Reuters] |
"Forza Azzurri!" they rejoiced as they
hit the cobblestoned streets of central Rome.
Tens of thousands of people who filled the Circus Maximus in Rome to watch
the game on a giant screen roared at the first goal in the final moments of
extra time, and began chanting, clapping and waving flags when Italy scored
again to seal the semifinal victory in Dortmund.
They were lively from the start, singing the national anthem before kickoff,
then clapping and singing "Italia, Italia" during the match.
In Milan, thousands filled the Piazza del Duomo, waving the red, green and
white colors.
In the northern port city of Genoa, people lit fireworks and set off sirens,
the Apcom news agency reported. The scene was similar in Palermo, Naples,
Florence, and Turin.
Fans in Venice converged on the city's historic St. Mark's square, waving
flags and setting off fireworks before groups of dejected German tourists, Apcom
reported.
"Viva l'Italia, Viva l'America e Forza Azzurri," (Hurray for Italy, Hurray
for America and Go Azzurri!), said U.S. Ambassador Ronald Spogli before the game
at a party at his residence in Rome to celebrate American Independence Day.
Spogli also set up a screen for guests who wanted to watch the semifinal, and
dozens stayed.
In Piazza Venezia in downtown Rome, cab drivers who had partially closed off
the historic square to protest new government measures to liberalize taxi
licenses, reopened it at the start of the game to allow fans to circulate freely
in case of a victory.
The victory brightened an otherwise rough day for Italian soccer. A sports
tribunal in Rome for the match-fixing scandal was asked to demote Juventus to
Serie C or lower and strip the team of the Serie A titles it won in the past two
seasons.
