Italy's stars, led by spotkick king Fabio Grosso, expressed delight Sunday after Azzurri captured their fourth World Cup with a penalty shootout win over France.
BERLIN: Italy's stars, led by spotkick king Fabio Grosso, expressed delight Sunday after Azzurri captured their fourth World Cup with a penalty shootout win over France.
Grosso converted the decisive spot kick after David Trezeguet had hit the woodwork for France and said he was elated.
"It's unbelievable, I am so excited. When the penalty came it was a difficult moment for me but I stuck it away," said the Palermo fullback, who also scored Italy's opener in the semi-final win over Germany.
Coach Marcello Lippi said there was no better feeling imaginable.
"I have won titles as a coach at home and abroad but I have never felt such sheer joy. This is the greatest satisfaction I have ever experienced in my career. I dedicate the victory to my family and to this wonderful group of players who showed such heart and determination," Lippi said.
Battling midfielder Gennaro Gattuso expressed similar sentiments.
"I am so happy right now. It is an unforgettable moment, I will never forget it," he gasped after hugging coach Marcello Lippi brusquely by the shoulders and screaming out his delight at the end.
Keeper Gianluigi Buffon said he had fulfilled a dream.
"This is really the fulfilment of a childhood dream. We pulled it off through unity and teamwork, mixed in with some individual talent," said Buffon.
He added he had alerted the linesman to the headbutt by Zinedine Zidane on Marco Materazzi which saw the Frenchman red carded in his final game out of a sense of professional duty.
"I really felt I had to point it out for the sake of the team. I wanted to defend the team with my gesture," said the Juventus goalkeeper. I was sure we could win throughout," he added.
Skipper Fabio Cannavaro said he felt "fantastic emotion" at the end.
"My son asked if he could sleep in my bed last night, but I told him he could share it with me - and the trophy - soon," he grinned. Italy have wanted this for a long time and, coming after everything that has happened in the past few months, it was really needed," said Cannavaro in allusion to the matchfixing scandals which have rocked Italian football in recent weeks.
"Winning like that on a shootout was really emotional - I am so happy as we really fought to achieve something at this World Cup. I hardly dared imagine we would win it. But we really deserved it. I was the only one remaining from Rotterdam and that was in my mind but it all went off fine," said Cannavaro, referring to the last gasp French Euro 2000 win at Italy's expense.
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