A Leicester City fan has a photo taken in front of street art created by Richard Wilson of Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri on Kate Street, Leicester, England, on Tuesday May 3, 2016.Jonathan Brady/The Associated Press
The Italian premier called it "insane." The country's national sports newspaper called him "King Claudio." Even the Vatican newspaper, l'Osservatore Romano, weighed in with a comparison to King Richard III.
Claudio Ranieri was hailed as a national hero in Italy after coaching Leicester to a highly improbable English Premier League title.
"King Claudio," read the headline on the front page of Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday, above a statuesque image of Ranieri as the Roman emperor Claudius.
Leicester secured its first top-flight title without playing on Monday after second-place Tottenham drew at Chelsea 2-2.
Leicester was playing in the second division only two years ago, came close to be relegated again last year, and started this season as a 5,000-1 outsider for the title.
Now, for the first time in its 132-year history, Leicester is champion of England.
"It's the greatest achievement in the history of English football, and it was led by an Italian," Matteo Renzi, the Italian premier, tweeted, adding a hashtag message of "insane" in Italian.
"There are moments in which fairytales simply come true," Renzi added in his weekly newsletter. "For those who followed Mr. Ranieri all season, saying every Sunday with less and less belief, 'It's impossible,' today is a day for the history books. ... Well done, extremely well done to the coach. There's a bit of Italy in this wonderful achievement."
Superstitious Leicester fans attributed the ability to avoid relegation last season to King Richard III since the upturn started directly after the medieval monarch's battle-scarred skeleton was given a dignified reburial in a grave in Leicester Cathedral 530 years after his violent death.
In an editorial, the Vatican newspaper recalled the king as "so violent and eager for power," whereas Ranieri was "so gentlemanly and restrained."
"As Ranieri teaches, hard work and competence can lead to a triumph in a league usually dominated by squads with billionaire budgets backed by sheiks and Russian oil tycoons," l'Osservatore added.
The 64-year-old Ranieri was known as a journeyman coach who never won any major titles in a career that saw him bounce from club to club, rarely staying more than a couple of seasons.
Before signing with Leicester, Ranieri had an embarrassingly short reign as the coach of Greece, and was fired following a loss at home to the Faeroe Islands.
"I always thought that sooner or later I would win a league title," Ranieri told Italian state TV Rai late Monday. "I'm the same man who was sent away by Greece.
"The only dedication I want to make to everyone is to tell them to believe and give things a try, not only in football but in every area of life."
The son of a butcher and raised in Rome's working-class neighbourhood of Testaccio, where the slaughterhouses were, Ranieri played briefly for his hometown club of Roma before spending most of his career as a defender for southern club Catanzaro.
On Tuesday, Catanzaro Mayor Sergio Abramo announced that the city will bestow Ranieri with honorary citizenship during a ceremony next month.
"Congratulations Claudio, king of England, Catanzaro awaits you," Abramo said, specifying that Ranieri's former teammates would take part in the celebration. "The new champion of the Premier League is an adoptive son of this city."
As a coach, Ranieri won an Italian Cup at Fiorentina, the French second division with Monaco, and some other minor titles, but had never claimed a major domestic championship.
A Gazzetta editorial defined Ranieri as "The Normal One," a reference to his nemesis Jose Mourinho, the self-proclaimed "Special One."
Before the title was clinched on Monday, Ranieri flew to Rome to have lunch with his 96-year-old mother.
"He's one of us, one of the best of us," the Gazzetta said.
Ranieri's success abroad follows that of Italian coaches Giovanni Trapattoni, Fabio Capello, Roberto Mancini, Roberto Di Matteo, Alberto Zaccheroni, and Carlo Ancelotti.
"It shows how much the Italian school of coaches is worth," said Massimiliano Allegri, the coach of Italian champion Juventus.