Marcos Senna

Marcos Senna

Personal information
Full name	Marcos Antônio Senna Silva
Date of birth	17 July 1976 (1976-07-17) (age 35)
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Villarreal
Number	19
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997	Rio Branco	0	(0)
1998	América-SP	4	(0)
1999–2000	Corinthians	16	(0)
2001	Juventude	12	(1)
2002	São Caetano	14	(1)
2002–	Villarreal	235	(15)
National team
2006–2010	Spain	28	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 October 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

Marcos Antônio Senna da Silva (born 17 July 1976), known as Senna, is a Spanish footballer who plays for Villarreal CF as a central midfielder.

He is known for his passing range and long shooting and is also a penalty specialist.

Club career

Senna began his career with Rio Branco Esporte Clube. After playing for a number of different Brazilian clubs early in his career, he moved to Spanish club Villarreal CF in 2002, from Associação Desportiva São Caetano. After a slow start (only 25 La Liga appearances in his first two seasons combined), 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.

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".^[1] 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.

International career

Senna was granted Spanish citizenship in early 2006 and was part of the Spanish squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008. His debut came on 1 March, in a friendly match in Valladolid, with Ivory Coast.

In the quarter-finals of the latter competition, Senna scored the third of Spain's four converted penalties, which resulted in the nation progressing to the semifinals at the expense of Italy, winning 4–2 in the shootout. He played the full duration of the final – a 1–0 win over Germany – and was named in UEFA's squad for the competition.^[2] Some pundits and journalists also named Senna as their player of the tournament.^[3][4][5]

His first international goal came against Armenia on 10 September 2008, a 4–0 win in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match.^[6]

On 20 May 2010, after an irregular season with Villarreal, with several physical problems, 33-year old Senna was left out of Spain's final 23-man squad, with FC Barcelona's Sergio Busquets starting in his place, as the national team won the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.^[7]

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	10 September 2008	Estadio Carlos Belmonte, Albacete, Spain	Armenia	4–0	Win	2010 World Cup qualifying

Club statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Corinthians
	2000	16	0	-	-	-	-	16	0
	Total	16	0	-	-	-	-	16	0
Juventude
	2001	12	1	-	-	-	-	12	1
	Total	12	1	-	-	-	-	12	1
São Caetano
	2002	14	1	-	-	-	-	14	1
	Total	14	1	-	-	-	-	14	1
Villarreal
	2002–03	16	2	0	0	0	0	16	2
	2003–04	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	2004–05	29	2	0	0	8	0	37	2
	2005–06	30	3	0	0	13	1	43	4
	2006–07	33	0	2	0	1	0	36	0
	2007–08	34	4	0	0	3	0	37	4
	2008–09	27	2	0	0	8	0	35	2
	2009–10	29	1	0	0	6	2	35	3
	2010–11	19	1	1	0	6	0	26	1
	2011–12	6	0	0	0	3	0	9	0
	Total	234	15	15	0	53	8	302	23

Honours and awards

Club

Corinthians

• FIFA Club World Cup: 2000

Villarreal

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2003, 2004

International

Spain

• UEFA European Football Championship: 2008

Individual

• UEFA European Football Championship: 2008 Team of the tournament
• Don Balón Award – Best Spanish Player of the Year: 2008

Personal

Marcos Assunção, who represented A.S. Roma and Betis amongst other several clubs, is Senna's cousin.^[8]

References

1. ^ "Senna: The goal of my life". Setanta Sports. 29 April 2008. http://sports.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/04/29/Liga-Senna-on-Real-Betis-goal/. Retrieved 11 June 2008. 
2. ^ "Spain dominate Team of the Tournament". UEFA.com. 30 June 2008. http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=729372.html#spain+dominate+team+tournament. Retrieved 1 July 2008. 
3. ^ "Steven Beacom: Best and worst of Euro 2008". The Belfast Telegraph. 30 June 2008. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/euro2008/article3846938.ece. Retrieved 30 June 2008. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Jeremy Wilson (30 June 2008). "Euro 2008: Highs, lows, hits and misses". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/06/30/nosplit/ufnwilson130.xml. Retrieved 30 June 2008. 
5. ^ Martin O'Neill (30 June 2008). "BBC pundits on Euro 2008 final". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2008/7480516.stm. Retrieved 30 June 2008. 
6. ^ "Villa double helps Spain to easy victory". CNN. 10 September 2008. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/football/09/10/spain.win/. Retrieved 10 September 2008. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Spain omit Marcos Senna from 2010 World Cup squad". BBC Sport. 20 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8695232.stm. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
8. ^ Marcos Senna, estrella de Champions (Marcos Senna, Champions star); Las Provincias, 2 October 2008 (Spanish)

External links

• Villarreal official profile
• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Marcos Senna at National-Football-Teams.com
• Marcos Senna – FIFA competition record
• Marcos Senna playing stats at ESPN Soccernet
• Transfermarkt profile

Persondata
Name	Marcos Senna
Alternative names
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	17 July 1976
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death