Tuesday Jul 11 2006 00:00
France striker David Trezeguet says he will shoulder the blame for his crucial penalty miss in the World Cup final defeat by Italy.
Trezeguet was the only man to miss a spot-kick in the shootout as Italy won 5-3, with the striker's effort coming back off the crossbar with Gianluigi Buffon diving the wrong way.
The duo currently play together at Juventus, but Trezeguet has denied that that was a factor in his miss.
He said: "It's true that I know Buffon very well, but I didn't change my style of striking the ball because of that.
"I didn't think I hit the ball badly. I think it's important that one takes responsibility for their acts and I walk with my head held up high.
"We have to accept defeat, look ahead, this is part of football.
"We did dominate and I don't think we were inferior to Italy.
"Unfortunately, we weren't able to score and the game was decided on penalties. We knew then that it could go either way."
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