landed on Marco Materazzi during a World Cup final has been
transformed into a giant statue and displayed in front of the Pompidou
Centre in Paris.
The bronze work of art, simply titled "Headbutt", was Wednesday
attracting crowds of tourists and locals who jostled to have their
photos taken in front of the five-metre (16-foot) statue.
The sculpture is by Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed, subject of a
retrospective exhibition in the Pompidou from October 3 until next
January.
"This statue goes against the tradition of making statues in honour of
certain victories. It is an ode to defeat," said exhibition organiser
Alain Michaud.
A much smaller version of the statue — which shows the two football
players in the seconds after the headbutt, with the Italian player
reeling after the attack — was previously exhibited by a New York art
gallery.
Zidane, who holds legendary status in France as a member of the
national teams that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, was sent off
in the 2006 World Cup final for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the
chest.
That was the then France captain's last ever professional match as a
player and he later claimed he had reacted to slurs the Italian
directed against his sister and mother.
The statue will stay in its spot in front of the Pompidou till the end
of the Abdessemed exhibition in January.