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Perhaps only in soccer’s globalized realm could a guy from Honduras be named after a famous attacking midfielder from Poland and play professionally for a club team in the United States.

Meet Oscar Boniek Garcia of Honduras and the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer.

As a youngster honing his skills on the mean streets of Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, it was Boniek. Early in his professional career, he was simply Oscar. Since a move from Olimpia to Houston early last June, he has worn the surname of Zbigniew Boniek, a Pole who starred for Italy’s Juventus in the mid-1980s, on his orange Dynamo (home) jersey.

“My father suggested it, he did it out of admiration of that player and my mom liked it and decided to go with it,” Boniek Garcia said through a translator in a telephone interview. “I feel honored, happy and privileged to have that middle name. I’ve seen him play on video in the past with Juventus and Poland. With a lot of humility I’m trying to get to that level.”

Boniek Garcia, 28, flirted with European clubs (Paris St.-Germain of France and Wigan Athletic of England) before becoming only the second designated player signed by the Dynamo. (The first, the Mexican striker Luis Angel Landin, was released in July 2010 less than a year after joining the club.)

“To be honest, the Dynamo were my only option, the only team that showed an interest outside Honduras and I decided to go with it,” he said. “I wanted to leave Honduras for a while. The No. 1 reason is the lifestyle in the U.S., it’s a big factor. It is safer here than back in Honduras. The opportunities are better to develop your potential and that gives you a bigger platform to project internationally. These things are all very important for Honduran players.”

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Before Honduras defeated the United States in early February in a regional World Cup qualifying match, Honduran players had found a ready market for their services in M.L.S. Roger Espinosa, 26, a native of Honduras who moved to the Denver area at age 12, was recently transferred from Kansas City to Wigan in England. Victor Bernardez, 30, had a strong season with San Jose in 2012. And Vancouver recently signed defender Johnny Leveron, 23, from Motagua.

“Little by little, you see more and more Central American and Hispanic players coming to M.L.S.,” Boniek Garcia said. “It’s a good league, a growing league. It is appealing.”

With Houston last season, Boniek Garcia had a nearly immediate and positive impact. Playing on the right side of the midfield, his size (5-9) and speed gave the Dynamo a complement to the left-footed midfield general Brad Davis and another threat on offense to take some of the pressure off Will Bruin up front. In 17 league games, Boniek Garcia scored four goals and helped the Dynamo advance to their second consecutive M.L.S. Cup title game (again losing to David Beckham, Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan and the Los Angeles Galaxy).

Last August, Boniek Garcia found himself a strange, yet familiar place when the Dynamo traveled to Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino to face Olimpia in a return match in the group stage of the Concacaf Champions League. Houston escaped with a draw and went on to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament (where it will face Santos Laguna of Mexico in the first leg on March 5). Olimpia was eliminated.

“It felt strange because I joined the Dynamo in late June and then by late August I’m playing against Olimpia at Olimpia,” he said. “It took a little getting used to, but at the end of day I felt happy to beat them and advance in the Champions League. At the beginning of course it was strange, then again I took into consideration that the Dynamo has opened doors to me in a way I had never seen with other clubs. They made things very easy for me. I’m very appreciative.”

The appreciation is mutual among his Dynamo teammates. Last season he was voted the player of the year by his teammates after chipping in six assists in his short time with the club (second only to Davis). He also scored a goal and had an assist as Houston, which finished fifth in the Eastern Conference, went to the championship game. And finally, he was named by M.L.S. as the top Latin player in the league.

“What was the biggest for me was the way I was treated beyond the pitch,” Boniek Garcia said. “I was received as a member of the club. Every player and coach took me in with open arms as if I had been playing for the club a long time. On the field the game is so fast and so physical. It’s much more competitive and physical then people realize. It’s a league where play is quick on the attack and the defense plays as a unit and the wide midfielders are always looking to attack.”

As the new guy who joined the Dynamo in the middle of last season, Houston’s opponents had little time to go to school on Boniek Garcia. He said that is going to be different as he gets ready for his first 34-game season in M.L.S.

“Strangely enough, I believe I had more of an advantage when I first came because in people didn’t know me,” he said. “Now, after a few months they know my tricks and level of skill and how to defend me better. But there is a silver lining to being able to spend a preseason with my team: it affords me the opportunity to get better and be sharper and be a bigger contributor to Houston.”

Asked about his career aspirations, Boniek Garcia said he would still like to play in Europe, preferably in Italy. But not for Juventus, where his namesake starred.

“Inter would be my team,” he said.

Go figure.

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