December 23, 2009

Former French midfielder Zinedine Zidane is glad he was sent-off for his head-butt in the 2006 World Cup final because he has not had to live with regret over escaping punishment.

Zidane received a red card for head-butting Italy defender Marco Materazzi in the 2006 final, the last match of his career, which Italy won 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

"It (the sending off) was a very good thing," the former Real Madrid and Juventus playmaker told France Football magazine in an interview released on Tuesday.

"It's good that (Italian keeper Gianluigi) Buffon signalled what I had done to the referee because it was not pretty. I don't know how I could have lived with it had France become world champions and I had stayed on the pitch."