A flawed, cruel and stupid devil, but thank you

France woke up with the bitter taste of defeat yesterday after their 5-3 loss on penalties to Italy in the World Cup final, but the question on everyone's lips was: "Why did Zinedine Zidane do it?"

In his last game for his country, the French captain and midfield genius was sent off for butting Marco Materazzi in the chest, an ignominious end to a glorious career which ensured he missed the penalty shoot-out that decided the game.

"The blue angel turned into a devil," the daily newspaper Le Parisien said of France's favourite footballer. The paper nevertheless ran a "Thank You" headline on its front page, in tribute to the achievement of the unfancied national side that reached their second final in eight years despite being largely written off as too old.

Liberation's front page saw the result as "Cruel" while the Le Figaro daily lamented the "Broken Dream of Les Bleus".

But the country's top sports paper, L'Equipe, roasted Zidane in an editorial by Claude Droussent, who said Zidane's "stupid" assault on Italy defender Materazzi was hard to forgive.

"Zinedine, you know, the hardest thing this morning is not to try and understand why Les Bleus, your Bleus, lost the World Cup final last night. But to explain to tens of millions around the world how you could have let yourself go and headbutt Marco Materazzi, 10 minutes from the end of extra-time.

"What should we tell our children and all those for whom you have become an example for ever?" he asked, concluding: "How could that happen to a man like you?"

The newspaper criticised Zidane for failing to take to the pitch after the game to collect his medal for France's second place finish and console the team-mates he had let down.

Zidane has yet to explain his action, but his team-mates, who have refused to divulge what was said to Zidane by Materazzi, praised the contribution of a player lauded as the best of his generation.

"All I want to say to "Zizou", and I think France should say it and the world of football . . . is 'thank you', and 'thank you'. That's it," France striker Thierry Henry said, using the affectionate nickname by which Zidane is known. "We should thank him because if he hadn't returned (to the national side) we would not have been there tonight," said France defender Willy Sagnol.

Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour, a former Olympic champion, said in the locker room after the game Zidane was "totally devastated to have ended his very beautiful, very great career in that fashion".

"It's a rather peculiar end for a champion who remains an exceptional champion," he said.

Sunday's illuminated display on the Arc de Triomphe, the celebrated Paris monument to French victories past, summed up the national mood of forgiveness for the flawed football icon: "Zizou, we love you."

Several thousand gathered in central Paris to welcome home the weary World Cup finalists last night.

A sheepish-looking Zidane bowed before the flag-waving crowds as one-by-one the French players stepped forward on the balcony of a luxury hotel to greet their die-hard supporters. "Zizou for president," fans chanted.

Striker David Trezeguet, whose penalty shootout miss cost France the chance to win their second World Cup, wept uncontrollably and had to be comforted by his team-mates.