THE National is giving away lifetime subscriptions to our newspaper for the first time ever – and they'll be going to “Roberto the Bruce” Mancini and his Italian side.

The Azzurri won the final in a penalty shoot-out, with Gareth Southgate’s England falling at the final hurdle.

Italian manager Robert Mancini celebrated becoming the Champions of Europe as anyone should – with a copy of The National.

The National:

He was pictured on the flight home with the paper by his side, resting just under the trophy itself. It is not yet clear which he considers the more prized possession.

The front page seen in the video went out on Saturday, with a mock-up of the manager as William Wallace in Braveheart.

We wrote: "Save us Roberto, you're our FINAL HOPE! (We can't take another 55 years of them banging on about this)"

We already knew the team were fans of our paper, however.

Asked at a pre-match press conference what he thought of it, Mancini said: "The front page of the newspaper is nice.

"We'll have to play our game. We'll have to have a great match, this must be our only thought. It's a football match after all."

He later added that it "did make me chuckle".

Italy's captain Giorgio Chiellini said: "The front page of the National made me smile for Scotland's rivalry with England."

We’re chuffed to bits that we could help motivate the lads ahead of their victory against England.

For their services to Scotland, we’ve decided it’s only appropriate that they all receive lifetime subscriptions to the nation's only pro-independence newspaper.

Mancini, Chiellini, and everyone else responsible for this historic victory – you need only get in touch with us via callum.baird@thenational.scot

Grazie!