The final triumph was almost operatic. And like all good opera, there was tragedy as Zinedine Zidane, aged 34 and arguably the month-long competition's finest performer, ended his career with a sensational sending off for headbutting an opponent.
"Red, red, red," shouted the crowd in Bibo's as the referee reached for his card.
But the sending off left a bitter taste with Italians, as Zidane has been idolized in Italy after his years as a player with Juventus of Turin.
"I loved Zidane as a player and a man, but now I take it all back. He's a bastardo for what he's done," said Carlo the waiter, a self-confessed "Juventino" or Juventus supporter.
Leading daily Corriere della Sera, which trumpeted "World Champions" on the front page of its Internet edition, said the veteran Zidane had ended his career "with a header."
The wonderful delirium with which Romans embraced victory, and each other, after the game was a stark contrast to the eerie quiet which swept over the capital's normally chaotic streets during the match.
Tourists suddenly found themselves blissfully alone for a couple of hours as the Eternal City became a hushed open-air museum.
"It's been really amazing not having any cars or anything," said Sophie Alidina, of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire in England, strolling the quiet streets with her mother, Jenny, who said the calm was "an unexpected bonus."
The winning team was scheduled to arrive back to a hero's welcome in Rome yesterday from its German base in Duisburg, where a special banquet with Italian bubbly was laid on late on Sunday.
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