The rules had been clear. No crowding. No flares. No violence. Fearing an ugly fallout from the match, whichever way it went, the Rome authorities had stopped public transport at 9pm and begun to cordon off parts of the city centre. As it happened, the worst that happened as fans marched down Rome’s main street, the Via del Corso, was some knocked-down bins and scooters.

But in the capital, as across Italy, fans took to the streets to celebrate the Euro success against England. Fans waved flags and chanted football anthems, including Seven Nation Army, which the Italians have adopted as their unofficial anthem. People celebrated wildly, on top of trams, on scooters, and with flares.