Spanish football legend Marcos Senna is thrilled to arrive in Manila to share the gift of football to countless young Filipinos who are dreaming of making it big on the international stage.

Still looking fit and healthy at 49, the former Villareal CF superstar said he’s hoping that a full-blooded Filipino will eventually make a breakthrough appearance in the biggest football leagues in the world like the English Premier League, LaLiga and Bundesliga in the very near future.

Senna is in town to serve as guest of honor in the Villarreal 7s Filipinas Cup, which is set this weekend at the Ayala Vermosa Football Pitch.

Over 67 participants from the Villarreal Academies in Sydney and Brisbane will be flying in to participate. They will be joined by the homegrown talents from various football academies led by the Villarreal Philippines Academy — the official partner academy of Villarreal CF, which is also known as the Spanish “Yellow Submarine” club competing in LaLiga.

The two-day weekend tournament aims to strengthen international camaraderie among the academies and showcase the rapidly growing football culture within the Asia Pacific region.

Senna, the Brazil-born midfielder who served as cornerstone of Villareal CF and Spanish football before retiring with the New York Cosmos in 2015, stressed that he is happy to share his wisdom, expertise and, of course, the gift of football to Filipinos.

So far, no full-blooded Filipino had ever made it to the biggest leagues in the world. The most accomplished Filipino booters are Filipino-British Neil Ethridge, who played in the Cardiff City in the Premier League; Fil-Germans Stephan Schrock and Gerritt Holtmann, who competed in Eintracht Frankfurt and VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga; and Fil-Spanish Dro Hernandez, who campaigned for FC Barcelona in LaLiga.

“Talent knows no borders, no race, and no color. With proper program and methodology, Filipino football players will also soon play in the best leagues around the world,” Senna told DAILY TRIBUNE in a candid discussion with select sportswriters on Thursday.

Mar Llaneza, Villareal CF international business manager, said their deep sense of family relationship and community-based values are what set them apart from other football academies.

“We have very strong connections within our club. At Villareal, we are connected like a family,” said Llaneza, whose father Jose Manuel Llaneza is credited for transforming Villareal from a lower-division team into a solid force in European football.

“But really, our main goal is to try to develop players. For us, one of the most important parts of our club is the development of the grassroots. We have been doing this for the past 20 years and we have proved that the program is working with all the successful athletes that we have like Marcos.”

Also present during the luncheon meeting were couple Eumir and Neth Siao — the executive directors of Villareal Academy.

Eumir, whose twin sons, Ellai and Nacho, play with the son of Senna, Lucas, in the Villareal Academy in Spain, stressed that their main goal is to produce more world-class Filipino football players.

“We may be a small country but we want to develop football here, and I think it’s a perfect marriage between a successful club and a country needing to elevate our level of football,” he said.