Italian soccer is toasting Fabio Capello, who confirmed his status as one of the game's all-time most successful coaches by leading Real Madrid to the Spanish title Sunday.
The Italian, who celebrates his 61st birthday Monday, repeated the feat he achieved with Real a decade ago thanks to a 3-1 win over Mallorca on Sunday night.
"CapellOle'" read the front-page headline of sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday.
The clinching of Real's 30th league title ended a four-year drought and gave Capello his seventh domestic championship.
As well as the 1997 Liga title with Real Madrid, Capello also won four scudettos with AC Milan (1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996) and one with AS Roma (2001).
The championships tally is nine if one counts the 2005 and 2006 titles he and Juventus were stripped of because of the club's role in the Calciopoli referee-rigging scandal.
Capello certainly does.
"I feel that the titles I won with Juventus belong to me," said the coach, nicknamed Don Fabio by Real fans. "We won them on the field and they took them away from us in an office".
The stern tactician was unusually exuberant in Real's festivities on Sunday night - he even took part in a ring-o'roses-style celebration.
This is perhaps because the victory was the sweetest of his career so far.
Capello was blasted in the Spanish media for much of the season for playing unattractive soccer and sidelining stars like England's David Beckham and Brazil's Ronaldo, who left Real for Milan in January.
With Real lying in fourth place Capello's position looked so bad in February that the Spanish club had to issue a statement denying reports he had quit.
"Capello has shown once again that he is a winner," said former Italy and Milan midfielder Demetrio Albertini on Monday.
"He has come out on top after a really difficult year".
Nevertheless, Capello's future on the Real bench is uncertain.
Capello's contract runs for two more seasons and he said he wanted to stay Sunday. But he also stressed that it is up to Real Chairman Ramon Calderon.
Calderon refused to comment.
Ruud van Nistelrooy's failure to score in his side's victory over Mallorca means AS Roma captain Francesco Totti has won the 2007 Golden Boot, which is awarded to Europe's top scorer.
Totti hit the net 26 times in Serie A last season, one more than van Nistelrooy, who limped off injured 32 minutes into Real's 3-1 win on Sunday.
