NuL,the French word that means both "a draw" and "awful" was among those used by the French press Monday to lambast the national squad's 1-1 World Cup result against South Korea.

France coach Raymond Domenech gives instructions [filephoto]

Much vitriol was targeted at coach Raymond Domenech, accused of poor tactics and choices.

"Les Bleus are playing timidly -but what about their coach?" asked the daily Le Parisien.

The tabloid France Soir said, "Domenech made the wrong choices" and ran a front-page photo of him beneath the headline "NUL!"

"The French came up short of their goal. The fault is without a doubt Domenech's, who is too timid," said Le Figaro.

Many commentators wondered whether Sunday's match would turn out to have been the last ever for midfield maestro Zinedine Zidane, who turns 34 on Friday and is retiring after the World Cup.

His two yellow cards in the first two matches means he will miss France's last Group G match against Togo, a team Les Bleus must beat by two goals Friday to guarantee a place in the last 16.

France Soir rated Zidane's performance against the Koreans a lowly four out of 10, adding: "He is only a shadow of himself."

Few failed to notice the frostiness between Zidane and Domenech when the coach replaced Zidane with striker David Trezeguet in injury time.

"This image is a good illustration of Zinedine Zidane's malaise. Captain of a team he no longer identifies with, led by a coach he disdains _ if he doesn't hate him -Zidane is having trouble with the last phase of his brilliant career," said Le Parisien.

Patrick Vieira's disallowed goal in the 32nd minute also led to renewed calls for video refereeing. Television replays appeared to show that the header crossed the goal line. But the Mexican referee ruled no goal.

"His dynamism deserved being rewarded by this headed goal which was unjustly refused," sports newspaper L'Equipe said of Vieira.