HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of Italians gathered yesterday in Circus Maximus, one of ancient Rome's most famous stadiums, to fete their own conquering heroes after the national team's World Cup victory in Germany.

Returning home from a triumph that took minds off the imminent outcome of a match-fixing trial, the team coach made slow progress through the traffic from a military airport south of Rome to a ceremony with government ministers in the capital.

RESTORING FOOTBALL

Prime Minister Romano Prodi raised the golden cup alongside team coach Marcello Lippi and captain Fabio Cannavaro in the packed square outside the Prime Minister's residence.

"Thank you for restoring to our football, hit by an unprecedented storm, the dignity it deserves," Prodi told the team, who were presented to the crowd and awarded individual medals.

The team later boarded an open-topped bus to wend their way a few kilometres towards the flags and fireworks waiting for them at Circus Maximus, where fans had clambered onto the ruins of the overlooking Roman forum to get a better view.

The crowd, estimated at 700,000 by the mayor's office, prepared for the party by parading an ornate funeral hearse carrying a coffin covered by a French flag.

Earlier, the pilot of the team's plane hung an Italian flag out of the cockpit window as it landed, before Cannavaro and Lippi emerged to cheers from the thousands of waiting fans.

"I don't know if we are in seventh heaven or sixth heaven but we are pretty high up there," Lippi told Italian television aboard the plane.

In a sombre reflection that may have alluded to the match-fixing scandal, he said: "We're happy for a little while, not for long but for a little while."

The Air Force's Tri-Colour Arrows acrobatic jets performed an aerial ballet over the base, forming a huge red heart with their exhaust fumes after trailing the red, white and green national colours.

"Winning the World Cup only happens maybe once in your lifetime," said Manuel De Paolis, 19, one of the flag-draped fans waiting on the tarmac.

"We came because we're only in our 20s and didn't see the World Cup in 1982. For us, this is the first one that counts," said Federica Cotticelli, 19, also draped in the tricolore.

Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano announced he would be formally honouring the squad with medals, making them members of the "merit order of the republic".

Italy's penalty shootout win over France has become an instant source of pride for a country marred by scandals in recent years, from corruption trials of ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to a multibillion-euro fraud at food group Parmalat.