Manuel Marouane da Costa Trindade Senoussi was born on 6 May 1986. He is known as Manuel da Costa, Manuel is a French professional footballer, who has both Portuguese and Moroccan nationalities, and plays as a centre-back for Turkish club Başakşehir. He has previously played for Nancy, PSV, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, West Ham United, Lokomotiv Moscow and Nacional.
Born in France to parents of Moroccan and Portuguese descent, he played for Portugal Under-21s before switching to play senior international football for Morocco.
Da Costa had never played for Portugal but he was called up for Euro 2008 qualifying matches in October, November 2006 and March 2007. He could have played for France or Morocco but instead joined the Portugal U-21. Although he does not speak fluent Portuguese, Senoussi insisted that he felt Portuguese, and that the country’s place in his heart was his reason for choosing Portugal over France.
