Italy toasts World Cup victory

Piazzas from Rome to Milan, and small towns in between, erupted in cheers and fireworks yesterday as hundreds of thousands of joyous, flag-waving Italians celebrated their team’s fourth World Cup title, won in a tense penalty shootout victory against France.

The hard-fought victory brought a welcome relief from the massive match-fixing scandal that has tainted Italian soccer, involving four top Serie A clubs that provided 13 of the players on the national team.