Heroes’ welcome for Germany’s World Cup winners

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The streets of Berlin have turned black, red and gold as up to a million flag-waving fans gather in the German capital to welcome home the nation’s World Cup-winning footballers.

Germany’s national side flew in from Rio de Janeiro – where they beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time on Sunday to secure their fourth championship – on Tuesday morning to a heroes’ welcome.

Mario Götze (@MarioGoetze), who scored the winning goal at the Maracana, tweeted a photo of the team on the bus from the plane to the airport terminal, announcing that they had arrived home.

Boarding an open-top Mercedes truck and trailer emblazoned with the years of their four World Cup victories – 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014 – the team threaded its way through the city along roads lined with tens of thousands of cheering fans.

The players, dressed in black t-shirts, each bearing a large number 1, and proudly displaying their winners’ medals, waved to those below, who held aloft cardboard signs proclaiming “We are all world champions!”

Stars including a grinning Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) tweeted photos of themselves taken from the trailer and marveled at the huge number of supporters who had turned out to greet them: “What a crowd!” the Arsenal midfielder posted. “Unbelievable!”

One enthusiastic fan displayed a banner announcing to the team’s goalkeeper: “Neuer, I want to have your baby.”

Others rode their bikes alongside the vehicle, wearing German flags as capes and snapping photos on their phones as they cycled towards the city center.

At the Brandenburg Gate there was a festive atmosphere, as the sea of supporters – many of whom had taken the day off to be there – waited patiently for hours for a glimpse of the team.

“We’re so incredibly proud,” one woman told CNN. “It’s a great day for Germany. I’m a waitress but I wouldn’t have missed today - everyone is off work!”

For others, a trip to the “Fanmeile” fans’ zone was “The best lunchbreak of all time.”

Some had traveled long distances to join in the celebrations.

“We’ve come from Frankfurt this morning,” another fan explained. “We arrived at 4.30 a.m. – we just had to come. I’m proud to be German, I’m looking forward to seeing my favorite player Schweinsteiger on stage.”

Those who couldn’t be there in person took part on Twitter, with Alex (@pixxelrunner) tweeting from Hamburg that he had “goosebumps” watching the “craziness” unfold in Berlin.

The crowds erupted in huge cheers as the team finally took to the stage – several hours later than expected, because of their slow progress on the 11km route through the jammed city streets.

Dancing, clowning around, playing air guitar and singing “We are number one!” the players thanked the crowd for their support.

Captain Philipp Lahm showed off the trophy, passing it to his fellow players, including midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, draped in a German flag and beaming, despite the large plaster covering the cut to his face sustained in Sunday’s final.

Tweeting a photograph of several members of the team in front of thousands of fans, Özil thanked the huge numbers who had joined the street party – which looked set to go on throughout the day and well into the night.

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CNN’s Christina MacFarlane and Alex Felton contributed to this report.