BERLIN — The lasting image of this World Cup will be Zinedine Zidane's head butt just about handing the title to Italy. It deserves to be Fabio Grosso's penalty kick winning the championship.

People won't remember Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro ecstatically lifting the trophy as his teammates jumped and danced around him. They'll more readily recall the France captain walking off the pitch in disgrace in the 110th minute, making his final act in soccer a vicious, venomous one.

There was little radiance in the Azzurri's 5-3 victory on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw Sunday in the World Cup final. And much ugliness.

"This squad showed great heart," Gennaro Gattuso said after Italy won its fourth crown, second only to Brazil's five. "Maybe it wasn't pretty, but we were hard to beat."

And hard to watch Sunday, as were the French. This was not classic soccer, certainly not the beautiful game.

It truly deteriorated in extra time. Zidane, in his farewell game, was walking upfield near defender Marco Materazzi when he turned and bashed his shaven head into Materazzi's chest.

The three-time player of the year nearly got away with it, too. Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo didn't see the butt, and Gianluigi Buffon charged out of his net imploring Elizondo to seek help.

The ref finally asked his assistant on the sideline, then pulled out the red card.

To a man, the French defended their Zizou.

"I have not seen the replays, but if it's voluntary then there's nothing you can say," France coach Raymond Domenech said. "But it's a shame. It's sad. He (Materazzi) did a lot of acting and for such a big man, a gust of wind made him fall over."

Not quite. Zidane might have been provoked, but he definitely knocked over Materazzi.

In the process, he may have knocked out his team. Les Bleus were already without their other main offensive talents, Thierry Henry and Franck Ribery, who were substituted.

Their best chance seemed to be penalty kicks, where they beat Italy in the 1998 quarterfinals on the way to their only championship.

Instead, it was the Azzurri who found glory in the shootout, capped by Grosso's blast.

"I thought about so many things from the time I walked from midfield up to the penalty spot that I don't even remember them," Grosso said. "If I have to think about what's happened to me, I'd have to say I'm drunk."

Andrea Pirlo, Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Del Piero all easily beat France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez in the shootout. The difference was the miss by rarely used David Trezeguet, which hit the crossbar on France's second attempt.

When Grosso connected with his left foot, the sliver of Italian fans in the opposite corner of Olympic Stadium finally could let out their breath — and screams of victory.

"We had fear of the penalties," said Gattuso, aware that Italy lost the only other final decided in a shootout, to Brazil in 1994. "Our history was not great, so that was the fear."

There had been fear for weeks that the Azzurri would succumb to the stress and angst of a match-fixing scandal tearing apart the national sport back home. Instead, they survived, allowing only one opponent's shot to enter their net: Zidane's penalty-kick in the seventh minute Sunday.

Materazzi got that back 12 minutes later.

"If the scandal hadn't happened I think we wouldn't have won the World Cup," Gattuso said. "It has given us more strength."

Verdicts in the match-fixing trial that could relegate four teams — and 13 of Italy's 23 players — to lower divisions are expected next week. By then, celebrations might be tapering off.

"The strength of this squad is that we have always been very sincere with each other and all worked together for this one objective," midfielder Mauro Camoranesi said. "Maybe we have not been the prettiest, but we were 11 men on the field."

The French at times were 10 men and one superstar. That superstar cost them dearly in the end, but he also sparked their renaissance after dissension nearly destroyed them in the first round.

Four years ago, France was eliminated without scoring a goal in the opening round, the first defending champion sent home so ignominiously. They struggled through their first two games in Germany, and Zidane was suspended for the third, against Togo, with two yellow cards.

But they won that, and he lifted them past Spain, pre-tournament favorite Brazil and Portugal on the way to the final.

France outplayed Italy in the title game, but couldn't finish. And without their leader at the end, the French were done.

Will French soccer miss Zidane?

"Yes, well, he was missed in the last 20 minutes tonight," Domenech said. "It weighed heavily in the outcome."

With a 25-game unbeaten streak dating nearly two years, Italy now has won the World Cup in 1934, 1938 and during another match-fixing scandal in 1982. The hero the last time was striker Paolo Rossi, fresh off a two-year suspension for his role in match-fixing. This time, there were a dozen stars and a coach who seemed to make all the right moves.

They rejoiced with an impromptu Tarantella on the victory stand. Materazzi placed a red, white and green top hat on the World Cup Trophy, and then Cannavaro held it high as cameras flashed everywhere, confetti fell from the roof of Olympic Stadium and fireworks lit the Berlin sky.

"I've won many championships," coach Marcello Lippi said, "but a joy so big I have never felt."