Paris: Ever since the final whistle brought World Cup 2006 to a close, the atmosphere in the two neighbouring capitals could not be more different.

In Rome, there were scenes of euphoria over Italy's victory. Ecstatic Italian demonstrators partied into the early hours of the morning. The victorious team was given a rapturous welcome both at the airport and in Rome's Circolo Massimo, where over a million fans braved the Roman sun to greet the returning heroes. The great expanse of the Circolo Massimo was strewn with red, white and green flags, while the air was thick with the crowd's hooting, chanting and music-making. Late on Monday the winning team was expected to be greeted by Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Then, a parade through the streets of Rome, with the solid gold trophy in an open top bus.

In Paris, the Champs Elysees, which had seen crowds of up to 5,00,000 when France entered the quarterfinals and then the semifinals, had barely 50,000 fans who felt they had to tell their team it had been heroic despite the defeat. But their heart was not in it. A special TV show organised to celebrate victory turned into a virtual wake. Mournful faces were trying to mask a sense of overwhelming sorrow, not least because superstar Zidane's final match had been tarnished by his expulsion from the game.

There will be no parade down the Champs Elysees as had been planned. The players had lunch with President Jacques Chirac on their return. But a tight-lipped Raymond Domenech said brusquely: "I am the manager, I decide. There will be no parade." Instead, fans had a glimpse of their favourite stars from a balcony of the chic Crillon Hotel at the Place de la Concorde.

In Italy, on the other hand, the victory was experienced as a double triumph, with the feeling that Italians had avenged their Euro 2000 defeat at the hands of the French.

The Italian press was lavish in its praise for the squadra azzura with headlines like "The world Belongs to Us" or simply, "Champions." Newspapers hoped this victory would augur a new era of hope and economic recovery for Italy.

The victory for Italy comes at a crucial and important time. The country has a spanking new government that has pledged to introduce probity and a new morality into public life. Several players of the returning team, among them goalkeeper Buffon, are involved in a match-fixing scandal of gigantic proportions. It has gone into trial and this victory could influence the case in their favour.

That said, Italy as a whole feels the country is getting off to a new start with the corruption-ridden era of defeated Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi a thing of the past.

"We have had a lot of bad news recently. Our public debt is over 100 per cent of GDP and the Government is going to have to tackle some serious and extremely painful issues. The euphoria generated by this victory will make the Government's task easier in the sense that people will be more upbeat and more willing to accept sacrifices. I certainly hope that this victory will help us clean up the corruption that has permeated Italian foot ball and that this clean up will have a fallout on general attitudes to corruption.

"The message being, if you are good and if you work hard you can win without being corrupt," said sociologist Rossana Calderoni.

The press in France took Zinedine Zidane to task for the display of foul temper that started France's downhill turn that cost Les Bleus the match. "He has always had a vicious temper. Suddenly, something seems to snap within him and he loses control of himself.

"Certainly the Italian player Marco Materazzi provoked him. But allowing himself to be provoked is just not on," said RTL radio's legendary commentator Eugene Saccomano.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail