MILAN, Italy — “It’s finished!” screamed the commentator in Italian as Fabio Grosso knocked in Italy’s game winning goal.

True, the game was won, but that aftermath had just begun.

A small, smoky basement on the outskirts of Milan, Italy erupted into a mosh-pit of celebration and sweetly rewarded passion. Thirty or so Italian students and one bandwagon American poured into the streets outside the apartment complex, waving Italian flags and chanting the soccer chants that have become second nature to me after weeks of World Cup soccer.

From whence does this country’s obsession with the riff from the White Stripe’s “Seven Nation Army” come from? Jack White’s guitar riff has become the chant of choice in Italy during the World Cup, stemming from earlier usage by fans of professional teams.

Regardless, the street through our small residential area was not going to satiate my friends’ craving for celebration. After watching the French sullenly accept its second place medals (to shouts of derision from my companions) and the joy-struck Azzurri grasp its golden trophy, my friends and I set out on a journey of the Piazza del Duomo (the center of celebration) to drink in a celebration of both victory and redemption.

The first leg of the journey was a joy ride through the city. Fans hanging out their windows and trunks, horns honking to that all-popular White Stripes riff and Italy flags flying in the thick night air were the norm on the roads not closed to traffic by the throngs of revelers.

Samuele Galeotta, a post-doctoral student working for the European Space Agency, drove his car around Milan after the game, honking his car horn.

“It’s beautiful, and then because I can see how simple it is to make the entire population crazy,” Galeotta said of his decision to participate in the night’s celebration.

The group eventually made its way to the Corso Buenos Aires, where my friends parked their cars on the sidewalk and the journey was continued on foot.

Scooters and motorcycles buzzed to and fro amidst the gridlock, and one trailer packed full of chanting teens was hauled along by a large tractor.

Many people in the streets were drinking beer in celebration of the victory: public drinking laws in Milan are nonexistent, or at least unenforced. Of all places, McDonald’s was a popular place to buy beer that evening, being fairly ubiquitous in the larger parts of the city and open late.

Cars became entirely immobile as the number of people darting amidst the traffic increased, with fans taking advantage of this by climbing up on top of city buses to achieve a greater height from which to wave their flags.

Matteo Manotti, a physics student at Politecnico di Milano, climbed on top of one of Milan’s many yellow buses to partake in the bus-top experience. However, he quickly jumped back to the street when, shortly after his ascent, a completely naked man scrambled on top of the bus and began dancing, to the mixed chagrin and delight of bystanders.

“We helped a guy get on the bus, but when he came on, I saw that he was naked, and then for security, I quickly jumped down,” Manotti said. “There were many Japanese girls on the ground that were taking photos of the naked man.”

Closer to the Duomo, the riotous parade turned into an equally riotous party, as fans hot from the humidity of the evening and the long march towards the city center turned a large fountain in a plaza into a wading pool.

Around the edges of the square, several men had managed to climb halfway up lampposts, while one adventurous soul had found his way to the very top of a street lamp and was hanging high above the ground on an outstretched arm from the post.

The airy Duomo, Milan’s great cathedral, stood well lit in the night sky as people flocked around it like moths to a floodlight. The sprawling square in front of the Duomo had been home to a mass of soccer lovers watching the drawn-out match, and had erupted into a mass of insanity after the game was over.

The festivities were in no way limited to Italy’s largest cities.

Stuart Lowe, a post-doctoral student in radio astronomy, who is residing in the smaller city of Bergamo on the foot of the Italian alps, described the scene in that town as similar to the celebrations seen in Milan, but with a residential twist.

“Everyone, little old ladies and families were running around in the street,” Lowe said. “Every single person that lives in Bergamo seemed to be on the street.”

However, Lowe found that despite the wildness of the evening, he didn’t feel at all threatened by the fans. According to Lowe, a similar celebration in the United Kingdom could consist of groups of rowdy and possibly violent guys.

“It didn’t feel at all threatening, everyone seemed to be cheerful. It was nice.” Lowe said.

By the time we reached the square, things were starting to wind down. It had been hours since the game ended, and by this point my companions and I were both physically and emotionally exhausted. It had been crazy, and that’s exactly the reason why I’m glad I saw everything in detail and can describe it to my friends back home.

No American celebration of a sporting event in my lifetime will ever compare to a World Cup win in Italy. At least, not without the National Guard being called in.