PLAYING THE NAME GAME

Zinedine Zidane, St. Louis Park senior Zinedine Kroeten's namesake, was an attacking midfielder from France widely considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time.

Kroeten's father, Ted, shared the inspiration for the name one day when Zinedine was old enough to understand.

"He showed me highlights on the computer, and I spent about four hours in the living room copying his moves," Zinedine Kroeten said. "And in my next soccer game I did all those moves. I hogged the ball a little."

Zidane also delivered a memorable head butt in the 2006 World Cup, a moment for which Kroeten later caught some grief.

"When I got to ODP [Olympic Development Program], the coaches just called me 'Head Butt,' " Kroeten said.

David La Vaque