Marcos Antônio Senna da Silva (born 17 July 1976), known as Senna, is a retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He was mainly known for his passing range and long-range shooting and was also a penalty specialist. He spent most of his professional career in Spain with Villarreal, appearing in 363 official matches during 11 seasons, 10 of which were in La Liga (33 goals scored). He ended his career with the New York Cosmos, with whom he twice won the Soccer Bowl. Born in Brazil, Senna represented the Spain national team during a four-year spell, appearing at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, and winning the latter tournament as starter. Club career Villarreal Born in São Paulo, Senna began his career with Rio Branco Esporte Clube. After playing for a number of Brazilian clubs early in his career he moved to Spanish side Villarreal CF in 2002, from Associação Desportiva São Caetano. He only made 25 La Liga appearances in his first two seasons combined, however this was mainly due to a serious knee injury he picked up in August 2003. However, after recovering from his injury he became an undisputed starter, helping the club reach as far as the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2005–06; eventually, he also gained the club captaincy. In the summer of 2006, Senna almost joined Manchester United: he had one year left on his contract, and Villarreal were prepared to sell him for a fee of around £4 million. However, the deal was put on hold while United pursued Owen Hargreaves, but FC Bayern Munich refused to sell their player and, when United returned with a bid for Senna on transfer deadline day, Villarreal rejected their advances; he had become frustrated with the delays to his proposed move and decided to stay at Villarreal, signing a three-year extension shortly after the transfer window closed. On 27 April 2008, Senna scored a goal from inside the centre circle against Real Betis that he deemed "the best goal of my life". That season, as the player netted a further three times in a total of 33 matches, Villarreal finished a club-best second, to champions Real Madrid. After nearly two seasons marred with physical problems, 35-year-old Senna returned to full fitness for 2011–12, as the Valencian Community side's playmaker. On 21 March 2012, he scored from a free kick for the 83rd-minute