A story on SoccerTimes previewing the upcoming U.S. youth championships says some unnamed foreign teams are looking at this Chicago-area defender. He is apparently one of the more highly rated players in that part of the country.
Made some all-star teams: http://www.virtual-soccer.com/prep00/prep323.html http://www.ihssca.com/2000boysallstate.htm http://www.virtual-soccer.com/colum01/colum291.html Played for Chicago Magic: http://www.chicagomagic.com/00awards.html http://www.chicagomagic.com/01awards.html
Makes you wonder. GIven his age, his parents may have well been big Star Wars fans and it rubbed off.
eneste, Not much more information in the article -- this isn't Soccertimes, but it's the same piece. http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562131841
Zayner The Chicago Tribune has written quite a bit about this kid. According to Tribune accounts, he's a central defender, he is an absolute rock physically (big, strong, kicks the ball one million miles per hour, scares opposition forwards with his size and aggressiveness), and his high school team hardly ever gives up goals when he's in back. In one story, the Trib quoted the Magic's Director of Coaching saying that Zayner has always been a good player, but in the past year he's notched up his level of play. Recently, when Zayner was in some tournament in Japan he was the talk of the tournament. That's the Trib's take, in a nutshell.