Scudetto Memories: Tommasi, Cafu and Balbo on the 2001 celebrations

On the 16th anniversary of the club's third Scudetto win, we spoke to three members of that squad about their memories from that beautiful day.

The Giallorossi beat Parma 3-1 thanks to goals from Francesco Totti, Vincenzo Montella and Gabriel Batistuta - sparking wild celebrations in the Italian capital.

Damiano Tommasi

“17 June was a special day for lots of reasons. It was the end of a journey we'd set out on months earlier and which ended with that game against Parma. It was also odd because the season was finishing so late due to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Then of course there was what it meant to so many people and how much they had longed for it.

"It was a very intense day. I remember the stadium was full hours before kick-off: when we went out to see the Olimpico before the game it was already teeming with flags and colours. It was a wonderful sight.

“We hadn't prepared anything in advance in terms of how to celebrate because we'd done that for the previous match against Napoli and it hadn't gone as we'd hoped [Roma drew], so there were no special celebrations planned for the final whistle.

“We celebrated in front of our fans a few months later, in August, when we played Fiorentina in the Super Cup, although some of the lads who won the title were no longer with us by then.”

Abel Balbo

“I went back to Roma for my second spell the very year we won the Scudetto and the 17th of June was an amazing day – the realisation of a dream, both for me and for the fans.

"Winning the Scudetto is hard to do anywhere and it's even more of a rarity in Rome, so when it does happen the joy it generates is extraordinary.

"It feels different depending on the relationship you have with the fans too. I'd already built up a very strong bond with the fans, the club and the city during my first time there – in fact, I decided to carry on living in Rome afterwards. That's why that day was so important for me, even though I didn't play much that season. It was the realisation of a dream, as I said.

"The atmosphere at the stadium that day was incredible and it carried on after the final whistle when we celebrated on the pitch and in the dressing room. But the really amazing thing was that the celebrations went on for days afterwards all around the city.

"It was one of the best days of my life and it came at the end of my career in Italy. I could never have imagined going back to Roma when I left the first time but I did go back – and I won the Scudetto! It was a very unique, very special reward for me.”

Cafu

“I remember everything about that day, from the first moment to the last. Beating Parma and winning the Scudetto was no less than that team deserved because every single member of the squad had worked so hard for it throughout the season. We were extremely determined to succeed.

"There was so much anticipation going into that game at the Olimpico, especially among the fans – they'd been waiting 18 years for something as memorable as that.

"I remember two minutes from the end we all looked at the people celebrating with flags in the stands – it was a stunning scene. It was a dream come true, both for us players on the pitch and the fans in the stands.”