|
FACTFILE
|
| Born: |
19 Feb 1954 |
| Caps: |
60 |
| Goals: |
22 |
|
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WORLD
CUP FACTFILE
|
Participated
1982 and 1986
Games/Goals
10/4
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|
Socrates
(Brazil)
One of the most
elegant midfield generals in soccer history, Socrates, began his career in Botafogo. He was
never a teenage star and didn’t make his debut in the Brazilian national team until he was 25.
He was blessed with wonderful skills, vision and seemed to have so many options when
he was on the ball. He was able to play the ball wherever and whenever he wanted. His
heel-kicks became famous world wide. These rare skills combined with the fact that he was a
medical student more than justified him being nicknamed “the doctor”. Socrates captained
Brazil’s fantastic World Cup team of 1982 partnering Cerezo, Falcao and Zico in midfield.
He scored twice in that tournament, one of them being a marvellous goal against the Soviet
Union when he dribbled past two players before firing it home from long range. Brazil didn’t
reach the semifinals in that tournament, but played some wonderful soccer.
Socrates was not an ordinary athlete, infact he didn’t
look at himself as an athlete. He smoked a pack of sigarettes every day, and that was one of
the reasons to why he never settled in Italy when he arrived there in 1984 to play for
Fiorentina. The lifestyle didn’t suit him and he went back to Brazil a year later.
In 1986, Socrates again was instrumental for Brazil in
their attempt of winning the World Cup, but France and Platini won on penalties in the
quarterfinal after a wonderful match. Socrates missed one of the penalties in the shoot-out.
He was the only player of the survivors of the 1982 team who really reached the same
level, but it wasn’t enough to take them through. He scored more than a goal every third
game in average for Brazil, which is excellent for a midfielder and added two more to his
account in the Mexico World Cup.
At clublevel he played most of his career for Botafogo
and Corinthians for whom he won three Sao Paulo state championships. Socrates also
played for Flamengo winning a Rio state championship before ending his career in 1990
playing for Santos.
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