World

Spain World Cup fiesta goes wild

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-13 10:42

Spain's national soccer team players look out from an open-top bus past Arco de la Victoria during a celebration parade in downtown Madrid, July 12, 2010. Spain stunned the Netherlands to win their first World Cup on Sunday in sensational fashion with a goal in the last minutes of extra time. [Agencies]

Members of the Spanish Air Force aerobatic group Patrulla Aguila display colours of the Spain's national flag during the celebration of the Spain's World Cup victory in Madrid July 12, 2010. [Agencies]

Spain erupted with its biggest fiesta in memory Monday when its football team returned to a jubilant nation after winning the World Cup.

Hundreds of thousands of people - if not more - jammed Madrid's historic avenues as an open air bus ferried the national team down stately avenues to cheers from Spaniards decked out in a sea of red and yellow, the colors of the Spanish flag.

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The massive Madrid street party came after players visited Madrid's Royal Palace, normally used only for dreary state affairs. But team chatted and drinks with King Juan Carlos, who hugged many players and gave coach Vicente del Bosque friendly punches on the cheek and the chest.

"You are an example of sportsmanship, nobility, good play and team work," said the king.

Team members then traveled to government headquarters, where they were greeted by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, ministers and hundreds of ecstatic children invited to the event.

"They won the cup but it belongs to all Spaniards," shouted a delighted Zapatero.

Goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas said the victory meant "Spain's name will be on top of the world for the next four years."

Next came an open-air bus ride through Madrid's historic center, the epicenter of the celebration for the second day in a row.

Crowds overflowed into the street and surrounded the team bus, virtually all sporting the red and yellow national colors along the five-kilometer (three-mile) route as the bus crawled through the crowd with the players waving and raising the gold World Cup trophy into the air.