PARIS — France captain Zinedine Zidane, sent off for head-butting Marco Materazzi late in Sunday’s World Cup final loss to Italy, won the Golden Ball award for the tournament’s best player.

The results were released yesterday morning in Berlin by FIFA.

Zidane polled 2012 points in the vote by journalists covering the tournament, beating Italians Fabio Cannavaro (1977 points) and Andrea Pirlo (715 points) in the ballot.

Zidane, who put France ahead with a penalty kick in the opening minutes, was given a red card after slamming his head into Materazzi’s chest during the tense second period of extra time.

Yesterday, French president Jacques Chirac paid stirring tribute to France’s most idolized footballer without a word of admonition for the national team captain’s ignoble exit from Sunday’s World Cup final.

Mr. Chirac set the tone of forgiveness during a lunch at the Elysee palace for the 23-man French squad and their wives and girlfriends.

“Dear Zinedine Zidane, what I want to express to you at this perhaps most intense and difficult time in your career, is the admiration and the affection of the whole nation — its respect too,” Mr. Chirac said.

“You are a virtuoso,a genius of world football. You are also a man of the heart, of commitment, of conviction, and that’s why France admires and loves you.”

The president drew a parallel between France’s football achievement and society as a whole. “You have shown to France that it is strong when it is united in its diversity and when it trusts itself,” he said.

Thousands of fans lent weight to Mr Chirac’s words as they unreservedly cheered a grim Zidane as he bowed to flag-waving supporters from the luxury Hotel Crillon in central Paris.

As the players stepped out one by one to face the crowd, David Trezeguet, the man whose miss meant that Italy won the penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw, broke into tears and was comforted by fellow players, including striker Thierry Henry.

“Everyone is full of indulgence for Zizou, nobody is angry with him, we had to show that we love him,” said one supporter, Ilyes, 31.

There was an overwhelming desire to forgive Zidane for his astonishing butt to the chest of Italian defender Marco Materazzi and subsequent red card.

“Zidane will remain a great player.He has perhaps forgotten us, but his head butt harked back to his life in Castellane,” said Ayoub Argoubi, 17, who lives in the tough council estate outside Marseille where Zidane grew up.

There was general agreement that the French idol had lost his temper after a terrible insult. Rumours swirled that Materazzi had called him a “terrorist.”

Italian-speaking lip-readers told Brazilian television that the Italian had called Zidane’s mother a “prostitute.” The Frenchman’s agent promised that the player would provide an explanation “in the coming days.”

Not everyone, however, was willing to forgive Zidane, who had to miss the penalty shoot-out and so wrecked what could have been a fairy-tale ending to his illustrious career.

“With one blow, the icon is smashed,” wrote Le Monde in its editorial.

With its headline, “Eternal regrets,” sporting daily l’Equipe was livid. Addressing Zidane directly, the editorial asked the man what he intended to say to the “tens of millions of children” watching the match, including four of his own,for whom he had become a role model. None of the world’s other sporting greats would have broken such “elementary sporting rules,” it said. Liberation offered a sobering thought: “For a month, France has dreamed alongside Zidane. This morning, it woke up with Chirac.”