Sócrates

Lore & Background

Sócrates played for Brazil for seven years, scoring 22 goals and representing the nation in two World Cups. He captained Brazil at the 1982 FIFA World Cup; playing in midfield alongside Zico, Falcão and Toninho Cerezo as part of one of the most celebrated teams in the country's history. He also appeared in the 1979 and 1983 Copa América. At club level, Sócrates played for Botafogo-SP before joining Corinthians in 1978. Representing Botafogo, Sócrates was the highest goalscorer in the 1976 Campeonato Paulista da Divisão Especial de Futebol Profissional. He moved to Italy to play for Fiorentina in 1984 and participated in Serie A and UEFA Cup, returning to Brazil in 1985 to end his career. His youngest brother Raí was also a professional footballer and part of the Brazilian team that won the World Cup in 1994. Raí is best known for his tenures at São Paulo and Paris Saint-Germain.

In Their Own Story

The lights at Palestra Itália hummed with a different energy that night in 1983. As Sócrates stepped onto the grass, cigarette in hand before kickoff—a habit he famously kept until the referee's whistle—he didn't just look like a player; he looked like a conductor waiting for his orchestra to begin. The crowd hushed as he received the ball near the halfway line, not with a frantic sprint, but with a measured dribble that slowed time itself. He spotted the gap, executed a pass that seemed impossible, and smiled calmly, knowing the goal was already scored in his mind before the striker even touched the leather.

Reader's Guide

Sócrates was born in Belém do Pará. He began playing football professionally in 1974 for Botafogo-SP in Ribeirão Preto, but spent the majority of his career (1978 to 1984) with Corinthians, scoring 41 goals in 59 Brazilian Série A games, and 172 goals in 297 matches in total. In 1984–85, aged 30, Sócrates had his first experience abroad, playing in Italian Serie A with Fiorentina. He returned to his country after that sole season, representing Flamengo, Santos and former club Botafogo-SP, and retiring in 1989. During his period in Flamengo, he played 20 games, scoring 5 goals and won Campeonato Carioca: 1986. In 2004, more than a decade after retiring, 50-year-old Sócrates agreed to a one-month player-coaching deal with Garforth Town of the Northern Counties East Football League in England. He made his only appearance for the club on 20 November, against Tadcaster Albion, coming on as a substitute twelve minutes from time.

Did You Know?

• Sócrates was a qualified physician, having earned a medical degree from the Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, part of the University of São Paulo.
• He co-founded the Corinthians Democracy movement, in opposition to the then-ruling Brazilian military government.
• Sócrates was the firstborn child of Raimundo and Guiomar Vieira, born in Belém, Pará.
• He married four times and had six children.