I doubt we’ll see a player like him again

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.

[youtube _8A0GkOe48s&feature=player_embedded]

The article was written by Hamish Mackay for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.

Get Football, Rewards and More with a brand new free app Qustodian Sports. Click the banner below to download for free! 

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

How does Qustodian Sports work?

[youtube bu14CjolAgE]

Follow us on twitter @live4Liverpool or like us on Facebook

Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com