Having seen the criticism heaped on Thierry Henry, former French midfielder Zinedine Zidane is glad he was sent-off for his head-butt in the 2006 World Cup final because he has not had to live with regret over escaping punishment.

Zidane received a red card for head-butting Italy defender Marco Materazzi in the 2006 final, the last match of his career, which Italy won 5-3 on penalties after a goalless draw.

"It (the sending off) was a very good thing," the former Real Madrid and Juventus playmaker told France Football magazine in an interview released on Tuesday.

"It's good that (Italian keeper Gianluigi) Buffon signalled what I had done to the referee because it was not pretty. I don't know how I could have lived with it had France become world champions and I had stayed on the pitch."

Zidane, who helped France lift the World Cup in 1998, thought there had been an overreaction to Henry's handball that led to France denying the Republic of Ireland a place in next summer’s finals.

"Many people outside football got involved, people who love you when you lift trophies and let you down when things go wrong. I'm certain Henry is not proud of his gesture."

Zidane admits he is baffled by France being so mediocre considering the wealth of talent at their disposal.

“This team is definitely open to criticism, although I prefer to look at the positives,” he added. “It’s hard to see them playing like this while there are good players.

“It’s not nice to see them go out there with a lot of difficulty each time. Their qualifying group was well within their range, as well as the playoffs, but well...

“Considering the value of certain France players, I am just disappointed to see them play like this.”

The French football authorities, meanwhile, are considering employing someone to work alongside manager Raymond Domenech.

While the France Football Federation (FFF) confirmed last week that there was no question of a change of coach, a a meeting was held last Thursday by Club France.

The organisation, created as an advisory board by the FFF and consisting of some of the most influential men in football in France, decided to put forward the idea of bringing in a general manager and a director of sport.

“Six months away from the World Cup it would not be reasonable to separate ourselves from our coach,” said Jean-Pierre Louvel, president of the union of professional football clubs.

“So we didn’t have the desire to vote anyone out or impose a diktat. But we couldn’t just stand around doing nothing.

“We have to consider all the solutions so that the France team stirs up passion once again. Not to do anything would be a lacking of our responsibilities.”

Reports suggest Club France will propose installing Gervais Martel as general manager and Gerard Houllier as director of sport when the FFF meet on January 29th.