I totally agree that it was bad, and it pisses me off that he ended his international career like that. However, some of his other outbursts were in highly publicized games (the headbutt in a Championships League game while he was with Juventis) and the stomping on the Saudi's back was during the World Cup (1998).

At the time, he got all kinds of coverage for the two game suspension from the World Cup because of that 'attack' (what it was referred to as at the time). A couple weeks later, nobody remembered it and everybody was focused on his scoring two goals to help France destroy Brazil in the finals. It will taint his reputation, no doubt about that. It wouldn't taint it nearly as much if France ended up winning, though. It is almost as if he is being used as a scapegoat for France losing to Italy.