FIFA World Cup heroes Spain return home ahead of victory parade

Spain’s newly crowned FIFA World Cup champions on Monday arrived back in Madrid, where a million fans are expected to greet them after a night of raucous celebrations across the country.
Spain captain Rodri held the World Cup trophy aloft at the top of the stairs as he descended from the Iberia plane that flew the team home from the United States after clinching their second star.
Spain’s 1-0 victory over Argentina in New Jersey on Sunday, secured by a Ferran Torres strike in extra-time, has sparked an outpouring of national pride in the football-mad country, whose only other World Cup triumph came in 2010.
Many younger supporters were not yet born when Andres Iniesta’s extra-time goal against the Netherlands secured Spain’s first World Cup in South Africa 16 years ago.
On Monday morning, the Castellana, Madrid’s main avenue, bore the marks of a boozy evening — the tarmac strewn with trash, beer cans and shards of glass.
Among the last remaining supporters, some slept with grins on their faces on the pavement or on benches, while others were still staggering home as cleaning crews worked from the early hours to prepare the route for tonight’s party.
“I didn’t sleep much, because… (of) the celebration and then the tension of the match — I think it was a little more difficult for all of us to fall asleep,” Madrid mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told RNE radio.
After landing, the players will be received by King Felipe VI at Zarzuela Palace, on the outskirts of Madrid, according to the mayor.
The team will then be met by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the government headquarters, La Moncloa.