Berlin, July 10 :

The colours this World Cup will be remembered for are red and yellow. Zinedine Zidane’s ejection during France’s penalty-kick loss to Italy in Sunday’s final was a record 28th red card of the tournament.

The previous mark was 22 at the 1998 tournament in France. Referee Horacio Elizondo also gave four yellow cards during the match, which Italy won 5-3 in a shootout following a 1-1 tie. That raised the tournament total to 345 — 27 per cent above the previous mark set in Japan and South Korea in 2002.

The United States tied for the most red cards in this tournament with two — and the least yellow, with five. Other countries with two reds were Italy, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Portugal and Serbia-Montenegro.

Portugal led with 24 yellow cards in seven matches, followed by Ghana with 18 in four. The US and South Korea tied for the fewest yellows, with five each in three games. A three-time world player of the year, Zidane became just the fourth player sent off in a World Cup final when he launched his head into the chest of Marco Materazzi in the 110th minute.

Argentina’s Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Abel Dezotti received red cards in Germany’s 1-0 win in 1990 at Rome, and France’s Marcel Desailly received two yellow cards in his country’s 3-0 victory over Brazil in 1998 at Saint-Denis.