by DAVE MARTINEZ

It is difficult to imagine Marcos Senna performing for any other club in North America but the New York Cosmos. However, shortly after the team’s 2013 Soccer Bowl victory, the 37-year-old midfielder had MLS knocking on his door.

More specifically, the Seattle Sounders.

Senna scored an unforgettable volley to put the Cosmos past the Atlanta Silverbacks during the 2013 Soccer Bowl. It was a storybook ending to the long awaited revival of one of American soccer’s most storied franchises.

At the helm of that team was Marcos Senna. Even at the age of 37, Senna managed to lead the Cosmos towards a championship on the back of his team-leading five-goal Fall campaign.

That performance was enough to pique the interest of the Sounders.

“There was an MLS representative that once asked me if I would like to go [to Seattle],” Senna told EoS. “That was right after the Soccer Bowl championship in 2013. I told him ‘I am not moving from here. I don’t even want to hear about it.’ And that is how it turned out. I stayed on for the next two years.”

The interest came in a time of flux for Seattle. The Sounders were just moving on from the services of entrenched club contributor Mauro Rosales and chance-signing Shalrie Joseph.

In need of a veteran presence in their midfield, Senna looked an obvious choice. But by the time Seattle made contact, Senna was already bought into the Cosmos — and no amount of money was going to pry him away. “People always asked me ‘don’t you want to go to MLS?’ I would say no,” Senna explained. “I am so happy here. The Cosmos supported me here. It never made sense for me to leave. I was happy with the Cosmos.”

That loyalty remains with Senna, even in retirement.

“I would like to always be able to come back here,” he explained. “For me, the Cosmos are a tattoo that will forever be in my heart.”