Many French people sympathised with Zidane over the incident

Just hours after the song's producers had e-mailed it to friends they got a flood of calls from the music industry and mobile phone companies.

The hit was written as a "joke... to entertain our friends," said Sebastien Lipszyc of La Plage Records in Paris.

The small studio e-mailed the song the day after France lost to Italy.

The French star, affectionately known as "Zizou" in France, was banned for three games and fined �3,260 for head-butting Italy's Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final.

Fifa also suspended Materazzi for two games and fined him �2,170 for provoking Zidane, who was playing in the last game of his career.

Overnight success

Mr Lipszyc, whose company composes advertising jingles and sound-effects, said Coup de Boule (Headbutt) was written "in half an hour" and e-mailed to about 50 friends. That evening, he and his two colleagues heard it on Skyrock, a popular French radio network

Zidane, il l'a frapp�, la Coupe, on l'a rat�e (Zidane hit him, the Cup - we missed it) Coup de Boule

"The next day, the major players rang us," said Mr Lipszyc, quoted by the French newspaper Le Figaro.

He said Warner made the best offer to distribute the song - an advance of 45,000 euros for the clip, percentages on the sales and a guarantee that La Plage Records would retain authorship.

The hit was distributed to 20 countries and a video clip was made at the Charlety stadium in Paris.

According to Warner Music France president Thierry Chassagne, "all this took two weeks - that's unprecedented in our industry".

The African-style song has become a tube de l'�t� (summer hit) in France, booming out at beaches, campsites and bars.