It was out, albeit barely. And it will haunt the France forward, more than the golden goal Trezeguet made against Italy six years ago will ever pain the Azzuri.

In the 2000 European Championship final, Trezeguet scored the winner for France in extra time against Italy, ripping his shirt off and twirling it round his head in glee. This time around, he missed his penalty kick to help Italy win the World Cup title Sunday in a shootout, 5-3.

For the second time, Trezeguet came off the bench in a major final. For the second time, he had a chance to hit the winner.

Not this time.

"This is part of soccer. I placed it well and afterward it is the bad luck of the game," Trezeguet said.

It wasn't the first time Trezeguet botched a penalty in a major final.

In 2003, he missed a penalty in the Champions League final for Juventus against AC Milan. His club teammate that day was Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Two days before the final, Buffon said he would be happy if Trezeguet doesn't play -- such was the psychological damage suffered by the Italians after Euro 2000.

Walking up to take France's second penalty kick after Sylvain Wiltord had slotted his in for a goal, Trezeguet banged his shot against the crossbar.

The shot looked similar to the penalty kick Zinedine Zidane sent early in the game. But while Zidane's bounced just inside the line, giving France a 1-0 lead, Trezeguet's was just outside.

It summed up Trezeguet's bad luck at this tournament.

Benched by coach Raymond Domenech, Trezeguet played only one full match -- against Togo, when Zidane was suspended. He had a goal ruled out for offside early in that match.

Prior to that, he came on only for the last two minutes after Domenech substituted Zidane against South Korea. Against Portugal in the semifinal, Domenech used Louis Saha as a late substitute, again snubbing the man they call "Trezegol."

"It was a difficult World Cup for me," Trezeguet said. "I hoped for more playing time, but that wasn't the case. But these are Domenech's choices."

Striker Thierry Henry, who was already substituted when Trezeguet came on for Franck Ribery, stood by his teammate.

"We put a penalty on the bar," Henry said. "We played together and we lost together."