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With the death of former Brazilian captain Socrates, full name Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, the football world is left wondering not just what they have lost but whether the likes of Socrates will ever be seen again. Socrates was unique in almost all aspects of his life as a footballer, not just on the pitch but also in his achievements off the pitch. Thought by many to be the greatest captain of the greatest Brazilian team never to win the World Cup Socrates may not be top of the tree in Brazilian football folk lore but his memory, particularly for Corinthians fans, will live on due to his originality as a world figure. In today’s society we revere individuals for talents that they have whether they are academic or sporting or artistic. Socrates was one of the few figures in the public eye that truly transcended the boundaries of this culture. His title of Brazilian captain was supplemented by his political activism, writing and the fact that he was a qualified, and for a short time practicing, doctor.
Life on the pitch
The aptly named Socrates won 60 caps for his country and scored 22 goals along the way. Despite scoring 172 goals in 297 games for Corinthians, his favourite club, Socrates made his name not as a goal scorer but rather as a player whose intelligence and vision were his primary assets. Don’t get me wrong averaging over a goal every other game for a club is a pretty impressive but his ability to spot things that others couldn’t was more valuable. On top of that the Brazilian was 6 foot 4 and equally comfortable with either foot. Sort of like a Brazilian Xavi, but as tall as Drogba, who could use both feet, and who scored goals for fun. Sounds unbelievable when you think about it now but that is what the football community has just lost. The only really comparable figure we have in recent times is Zidane but even then they are not that similar. Socrates built play from the back, a deep lying playmaker who his abilities and intellect were evident wherever he was on the pitch.
Paolo Rossi, who scored a hat trick against Socrates’ 1982 Brazil team to send them out of the World Cup said of him:
“Socrates seemed like a player from another era. You couldn’t place him in a category – on the pitch and even more so off it. He was a very dynamic player with a sublime foot, but most of all, great intelligence.”
Performances such as his against Spain in the 1986 World Cup or even his whole 1982 World Cup perfectly capture the sort of player he was. He never appeared under any pressure when he played and was as much a goal threat inside as outside the box. The air of serenity with which he played also trickled down to the Brazil team whose style perfectly complimented his own. That they he never won the World Cup is a travesty for some but I think that he is so well loved and admired despite never winning that trophy is testament to him as a footballer and a character.
Brazilian legend Zico, who played under Socrates, said of him:
“He was a spectacular guy. As a player there is not much to say; he was one of the best that I have ever played with. His intelligence is unique.”
Off the pitch
Outside of football his life was in many ways no less impressive. Socrates studied for, and became a qualified doctor whilst still in his playing career and after he retired he practiced medicine for a short period. He was also acutely aware of the political problems growing up under a military regime in Brazil and was part of the Corinthians Democracy movement whilst at the Brazilian club. Their aims were to not just combat the government’s treatment of footballers but of society as a whole. He also wrote columns in newspapers about economics and politics as well as football. In fact it has been said that his writing about football was by far his worst because he never learned how to take an objective view when it came to writing about Corinthians.
Nobody can doubt that Socrates was an incredible player, nor that he was intelligent and politically aware individual but what is in doubt is whether his sort are a lost breed in modern football? But that is to imply that before Socrates there were players like him, an idea that is questionable in itself. Socrates did not become a professional footballer until he was 24. The beauty of both his game and character comes from the fact that he was able to see the world in the way that other footballers couldn’t and he could see the sport from a point of view that was unique, and play it with an intelligence that was unavailable to the vast majority of his colleagues.
Often accused of drinking and smoking too much Socrates really was a player, as Rossi said, ‘from another era’ both literally and metaphorically. Giancarlo De Sista, Fiorentina manager whilst Socrates played in Italy remarked that Socrates was a player that questioned everything from why he couldn’t smoke on the bus and why he had to rest before games to things on the pitch. Everything was analysed, and analysed by a brilliant mind too. There are few, if any, players that can be compared to Socrates as a footballer and even fewer that can be compared to him as a public figure.
Will we ever see the likes of Socrates again? With the huge wages they are paid it is unlikely that there will ever be a player who is so culturally in touch with the fans and although there are many players who have vision on the pitch as he did there are few who have the intellect to match.
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