PARIS, June 12: French newspapers indulged in soul-searching on Wednesday after France’s humiliating exit from the World Cup, some mourning the fall of its soccer heroes while others called for coach Roger Lemerre to resign.

“France KO” screamed the headline of the tabloid Le Parisien, over a photograph of playmaker Zinedine Zidane face down on the pitch. “The cup runneth empty”, said the left-leaning Liberation, using a close-up of the same picture.

Everywhere, commentators tried to make sense of the astounding fall from grace of the team which won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championships in 2000, only to leave this year’s tournament without scoring a single goal.

France’s 2-0 defeat by Denmark on Tuesday earned it the dubious distinction of the worst performance by defending champions in the 72-year history of the tournament.

Some newspaper commentators accused the team of becoming arrogant and focusing on juicy advertising contracts instead of their game. Others pointed to the absence of Zidane, sidelined by a thigh injury in the early stages of the tournament.

“Stunned and dazzled by their success, sought out by sports and business, the team neglected the essential: the pitch,” said the conservative daily Le Figaro in a report headlined “Autopsy of a failure”.

Commentator Martin Couturie compared Lemerre with former Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who said he would quit politics after his defeat by far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of the presidential elections on April 21.

“There is no need, no urge to pull out the daggers today,” said Couturie. “But for the sake of honour, the team’s trainer must follow the path traced by Lionel Jospin, another ‘trainer’ unable to survive a fateful first round.”

The Communist daily L’Humanite agreed, calling France’s 2002 World Cup campaign “an incomprehensible fiasco”.—Reuters