Leboeuf: I am ashamed of Zidane

Zinedine Zidane’s fellow former World Cup winner Frank Leboeuf is at a loss to explain what made the France captain commit his shameful head-butt against Italy last night.

Zidane, sent off for his astonishing extra-time charge into the chest of Marco Materazzi, was therefore unable to take part in the penalty shoot-out which went Italy’s way in the World Cup final.

Leboeuf, part of the team alongside Zidane which won the World Cup on home soil in 1998, can still scarcely believe what he saw from his old colleague in Berlin.

“I cannot accept what he did,” the ex-Chelsea defender told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I think Materazzi said something very bad to him for him to react like that. But it doesn’t matter what he said – you cannot agree with what he did. I feel very ashamed – because it is not the kind of thing that this team does.”

Zidane will never have the chance to redeem himself, because the final against Italy was his last match before retirement – and that makes the incident even more regrettable for Leboeuf.

“He has been such a great footballer and a wonderful human being … I don’t understand what happened,” he added.

“He has a hot temper; he can react, as we have seen two or three times in his career. He is a very shy person, a quiet guy – not the kind of guy to show the image he did yesterday.

“He should have been focused on the real target – the World Cup. To go out like that, end his great career like that, is a pity.”