With Zinedine Zidane walking off the field after head-butting Marco Materazzi as France was playing Italy in the World Cup final, the world was looking at the supposedly retiring star and thinking that they saw the last of him on the soccer field. And as the penalty kick shootout ended with Italy crowned World Champions, the story of the premature end for Zidane in his last match was sure to lead the front pages of many newspapers throughout the world.

However, it is possible that the World Cup final is not Zidane's last game at all. If rumors are to be believed, Red Bull is interested in bringing him to New York, any retirement promises be damned. And with his contract at Real Madrid over, he would come at a much smaller price than his teammate at Real Madrid, Ronaldo (who is supposedly vacationing in the US this week).

So with "Once In A Lifetime", the story of the Cosmos, playing in New York, it looks more and more so that Red Bull is trying to remake the Donkeys into Cosmos version 2.0, be it with Ronaldo, Zidane, or any other "big name" they can think of. Of course, at this point, none of those names have taken the bait in however many dollar bills Red Bull is offering. But it seems a matter of time before someone does. Who?

We've seen it before, players coming to MLS with money thrown at them (of course, what Lothar Matthaus got from Metro is nowhere near what is rumored to be out there in these cases) and sleepwalking through their time here. We've said it before, it is vital for whoever the Donkeys sign to care more than just the paycheck. But would Ronaldo or Zidane, after playing on the world's biggest stage for some many years, come here for more than just the dollars? Would they actually care about the Red Donkeys, or just about cashing those lengthy zeroes at the end of their paycheck? Is there any glory in beating Real Salt Lake? (If, in fact, this team could actually beat Real Salt Lake.)

We don't know. But what we do know is the one world-class player who came here for all the right reasons, the one player who said all the right things, Youri Djorkaeff, is now completely disillusioned with Red Bull and what they have done to our dear old Metro. He is in Europe now, watching his pal Zidane in France's improbable run to the final, and even if Youri steps back on the MLS field this week or next, it is hard to imagine of him not talking to Zidane about the circus that is Red Bull New York. One only wonders if Djorkaeff, who could have been the club's best salesman, is now its biggest detractor, after going through the clowning changes of the past months. And lest us not forget that Ronaldo is former Djorkaeff teammate as well.

And then, even if they do come, even if Red Bull convinces MLS to allow them to spend unprecedented millions... Imagine the team: Zidane, Ronaldo... Chris Henderson. Steve Jolley. Danny O'Rourke.

Reality check.