WHEN the Arabic letters that spell his name are Romanized and given English pronunciation, he is Zin-ad-Din. In Indonesia he would be called Zainuddin, said to mean ornament of faith.

His parents came from Taguemoune, a village in the hilly interior of Algeria. His father, Smail Zidane, like many people from North Africa driven by the urge to better his lot, left for Paris. But the crushing poverty that hounded him there drove him to move to Mars