Al Arabiya

A new landmark was unveiled along the corniche in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday. A five-meter rendering of the moment when French football player Zinedine Zidane head-butted Italian player Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup.

The sculpture, created by the Algerian artist Adel Abdessmed, is named “Coup de Tête” - or “Head Butt” in English.

The sculpture was bought by the Qatar Museums Authority for an undisclosed sum and will be a permanently stationed on the corniche, reported Doha News on Saturday.

It is expected to be popular, according to museum officials.

“Yes, we expect a lot of people to want to take photos with it, and of it,” Jean Paul Engelen, Qatar Museum Authority’s director of Public Art, told Doha News.

Engelen added: “it’s an impressive piece. It’s a huge sculpture, and it’s done in the same style as Greek Mythological statues, but this glorifies human defects instead. It shows that although we sometimes treat footballers like gods, they’re not - they’re just human beings.”

The sculpture was previously showcased outside the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris.

It resulted in some French football officials writing an open letter to Zidane, asking him to assert his influence to have the statue removed. It is not clear whether Zidane conformed to their request.