His last act was one which will tarnish the memory of good days.

Zidane paid the ultimate penalty to ruin his last professional match after headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest after his rival appeared to goad him.

Referee Horacio Elizondo produced the red card for the French veteran after consulting with linesman Dario Garcia, who had flagged the incident.

The moment of shame came after Zidane, 34, had earlier opened the scoring from a penalty.

It had taken Zizou -- who was sent-off in the first round match with Saudi Arabia in 1998 -- all of seven minutes to make a more positive mark on his last appearance for his country when France were awarded a contentious penalty after Materazzi's tackle on Florent Malouda with the great man walking up to the spot.

Taking his usual two-step run up the French legend saw Gianluigi Buffon diving to the right and almost nonchalantly chipped the other way.

But his heart must have skipped a beat as he watched the ball hit the crossbar, only for the rebound to bounce over the line for his third goal of the competition and the 31st of his career.

It made him only the fourth player to score in two World Cup final matches after Pele, Vava and Paul Breitner and also the fourth to score three final goals after Pele, Vava and Geoff Hurst.

He almost scored a second of the match with a flying late header to leap into glory but the world's final memory of him in a France shirt was of him disappearing down the stadium steps to the dressing room, head bowed.

Zidane, whose petulance already saw him suspended for France's last group game against Togo, became the fourth player to be sent off in a World Cup final, Argentine duo Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti being red carded in the 1990 final and France's Marcel Desailly in the 1998 edition.

It was Zidane's two bullet headers which had lifted France to a 3-0 triumph over Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final in Paris and he had been touted as the man who held the key to Sunday's showdown after fine showings against Spain, Brazil and Portugal.

Tributes had flowed after his brilliant display in the quarterfinal against Brazil, when he eclipsed world footballer of the year Ronaldinho in midfield and glided over the 57th minute freekick to the unmarked Thierry Henry at the far post for him to volley in the winner.

Pele, who also wore the No. 10 shirt, said simply: "Zidane was the magician in the game."

For Germany's two-time World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer Zidane "is one of the greatest players in history, a magnificent player."

Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira described the Real Madrid midfielder as "a monster".

Another Gallic icon, Michel Platini, ventured: "Technically, I think he is the king of what's fundamental in the game: control and passing, because I don't think anyone can match him when it comes to controlling or receiving the ball."

"I think his two goals left an indelible mark on a whole generation," said Platini.

The Arc de Triomphe was bathed in his image eight years ago, the boulevards of Paris ringing out with the name of the player whose journey to stardom began when a talent scout spotted him as a 14-year-old from the backstreets of Marseille.

Zidane's success was presented as the embodiment of multi-racial France, an image that as last autumn's riots showed was still some way from being realised.

In recent days, the father-of-four had rolled back the years.

Having retired once from the international scene after les Bleus failed to retain their European title at Euro 2004 he returned after a nocturnal visitation to help steer his struggling teammates through qualification to Germany.

Of that mysterious incident he said: "One night about three o'clock in the morning I woke up suddenly and began speaking with someone. Afterwards I didn't tell anyone about it, not even my wife.

"It was like a revelation, and suddenly I realised I had to go back on my decision to retire."

His unscripted u-turn with three qualifiers to go sparked an immediate upturn in the national team's performance.

A three time FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003 Zidane made his France debut in a friendly against the Czech Republic on August 17, 1994, scoring the first of his 28 international goals.

His club career took off under Luis Fernandez' Cannes before his 17th birthday.

After a spell at Bordeaux, Zidane moved to Juventus who splashed out four million dollars to secure his artistry.

In Italy his stock rose sharply as he won the European Super Cup, two Intercontinental Cups and two Italian championships.

After helping France win Euro 2000 he moved to Real for what is still a record 75 million euros and two years later he scored a superb left-footed volley in the Spaniards' win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final.

The 'old' man was evidently enjoying his one last hurrah, coming off at the end of the first half of extra time smiling from ear to ear.

But then the red mist descended to turn out the light on a genius who has lit up France's path to a World and European title in the past decade.