SOCRATES

Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, MD (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011) was a Brazilian footballer. He was also a qualified doctor, and was the elder brother of Raí, who was a member of Brazil's World Cup winning squad in 1994.

He played for Botafogo-SP, before joining Corinthians in 1978. He spent six years with the club, scoring 172 goals in 297 league games. He then moved to Italy to play for Fiorentina, before retuning to Brazil to end his career with Flamengo and Santos. He is best remembered outside of his homeland for the sixty caps he won playing internationally for Brazil; he captained his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and also appeared at the 1986 World Cup, the 1979 Copa América, and the 1983 Copa América – appearing in the defeat to Uruguay in the 1983 finals. He was named South American Footballer of the Year in 1983, and was named on Pelé's FIFA 100 list in 2004.

Sócrates was a technical playmaker, known for great through passes and his vision on the field, as well as his physical strength. He was also a two-footed player and a prolific goal scorer. His ability to read the game was highly valued, and his signature move was the blind heel pass.^[2] He was considered to be one of the greatest midfielders ever to play the game.^[3] Easily recognizable for his beard and headband, he became the "symbol of cool for a whole generation of football supporters".^[4]