Zinedine Zidane is remembered almost as much for headbutting Marco Materazzi of Italy in the World Cup final in 2006 as he is for his years as a great player.

But how notorious would he be … if he had headbutted the referee, instead?

A midfielder for the Al Ahli team in Dubai did just that, apparently, and it’s making a lot of news. As it should.

Luis Jimenez, a Chilean, put the “attack” in the position of attacking midfielder on Sunday night when he ran some distance to butt the head of the referee, an Emirati named Ammar Ali Al Junaibi.

The ref had just awarded Al Jazira a free kick, and Ahli players and coaches apparently already felt as if he were tilting towards Jazira, who earlier had been awarded a penalty.

And, we should note, players here get away with a lot of contact with referees. Far more than in the U.S. or Western Europe, where players are expected never to place hands on the “judge.” Here, they will put a hand on his arm, or even grab an arm. Happens regularly, and we’re not even taking into account verbal abuse, which is an everyday event.

But headbutting certainly is not allowed, and Jimenez’s butt of the ref seems to have shocked everyone. The surprised (but apparently unhurt) ref red-carded him, and Jimenez walked off the pitch — and maybe out of the league.

The weight of the UAE soccer officialdom is about to come down on Senor Jimenez, and my colleague Ahmed Rizvi did a good job of rounding up the reaction for the Tuesday newspaper.

One of the best quotes was from a former head of UAE refs, who said: “Football is for footballers, not oxen. … Thank God he does not have horns; otherwise it would be very dangerous for all the players.”

Jimenez certainly will be suspended. The only question is “how long?”

Heretofore, he just seemed like another fiery expat footballer. These are the guys who get paid well to come to the UAE and be difference-makers. They often come from leading leagues, and expect to have their way with the local talent.

Jimenez didn’t have a good first half of the season with Ahli, and had lost his regular starting position. There was talk of Ahli offloading him, because an expat who doesn’t start is a waste of one of the four precious “foreigner” slots.

But he had scored two goals for Ahli in the game against Jazira, the defending champions. He seemed to have secured a place back in the starting lineup.

Instead, he found a place in UAE football infamy.