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Socrates contributed two spectacular goals to Brazil's 1982 campaign. Allsport |
Socrates was an atypical Brazilian footballer. A tall, lean figure with a wild black beard, he smoked heavily and came from an educated middle-class background, studying medicine before he made it as a player.
Yet Socrates played with an elegance that could have been groomed nowhere other than Brazil. With his trademark back heel, Pele said he played better backwards than most players could going forward. And in 1982 Socrates was the leader of the last Selecao team to try and win the World Cup according to the philosophy of Pele's bonito jogo.
Brazil failed, but in doing so Socrates and his teammates became romantic figures in the history of the tournament, committed to a pure ideal of how the game should be played that was seemingly lost forever.
Socrates made two memorable contributions to the campaign. In Brazil's opening group match against the Soviet Union, he ghosted past two defenders to fire in a long-range effort that set his side on course for a come-from-behind 2-1 win. And against Italy in the second round, he grabbed his second goal of the tournament, drifting through to the goal line before beating Dino Zoff from a seemingly impossible angle.
But the game against Italy was to mark the final victory for European pragmatism over South American flair. Despite the panache of Socrates and his teammates, resilient defending kept them to two goals. Meanwhile Paolo Rossi was exploiting Brazil's defensive limitations, scoring all the goals Italy's 3-2 win.
By 1986, Brazil was in transition toward the more conservative style that would finally earn it another world title in 1994. But Socrates was still the same player, and he raised his game to help Brazil reach the quarterfinals, scoring against Spain and Poland.
Yet the classic showdown with France ended miserably for Brazil's most talented player. Socrates missed an open goal in the dying seconds of extra time and then failed from the spot as Brazil lost on penalties.
