Socrates tribute: Re-live the Brazilian legend's best moments and watch his greatest goals
Brazilian maestro Socrates passed away this morning after being treated for food poisoning, aged 57 .
Here MirrorFootball's Simon Head pays tribute to one the of the true masters of the beautiful game.
Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, known simply as Socrates, was a footballing legend.
During the 1980s he was one of football's most recognisable figures, thanks to his flowing hair and trademark beard.
A giant of a midfielder, standing at around six foot four, Socrates was as skinny as a rake, but had the upper-body strength and turn of heel to wrong-foot opposing midfielders with apparent ease.
He often played the game as if it was in slow motion. You barely ever saw him sprint, but when he did he glided across the turf with the sort of grace we've rarely seen since (with the possible exception of Zinedine Zidane).
His starring role came as captain of the Brazilian national team in the 1982 World Cup in Spain. It was my first experience of watching football as a young boy and, in all my years watching the game since, I've never seen a team play more beautiful attacking football than the Brazil side of that tournament.
The Selecao were expected to not only do well, but win the World Cup that summer. Brazil's midfield five of Zico, Falcao, Cerezo, Eder and Socrates was one of the best ever assembled and guaranteed goals from all over the pitch.
And, with Socrates pulling the strings, Brazil produced some of the best football ever seen in a World Cup.
It was his spectacular strike from 25 yards that kick-started Brazil's World Cup campaign, getting them back into the game after going a goal behind in their opener against the USSR. The mercurial Eder then produced a moment of magic to win it with just two minutes left on the clock. Socrates' Brazil had arrived.
In their second game, against Scotland, Socrates was again at the heart of the action, pulling the strings from the middle of the park as Brazil, having gone behind for the second game in a row, roared back to thrash a talented Scottish side by four goals to one.
And against New Zealand in their third game, Socrates strolled about the park directing traffic and creating openings for the likes of Zico and Falcao as the Selecao thrashed the All-Whites 4-0.
The knockout stages saw Brazil in a three-team mini-group with their first match against their big rivals Argentina and their young superstar Diego Maradona. But Socrates dominated Maradona and the rest of the Argentinean midfield as Brazil ran out comfortable 3-1 winners.
His brilliant finish against Italy in the next game demonstrated Socrates' legendary composure on the ball. Losing 1-0 to a Paolo Rossi opener, Socrates picked up a through ball from Zico, ghosted into the area and fooled legendary Azzurri keeper Dino Zoff by squeezing the ball through the smallest of gaps inside the near post with the Italian custodian ready to save the shot across goal.
Despite that goal, and Falcao's screamer later in the match, Brazil succumbed to their defensive frailties - and Paolo Rossi's hat-trick. Brazil were the best attacking team in the world at the time but they fell just one game from the final, leaving fans wondering what might have been and leaving the Brazilian side of 1982 with the label of the best national team NOT to win a World Cup.
Socrates was back in 1986 in Mexico, but that same drive wasn't there in his legs and an ageing side crashed out to France on penalties in the quarter finals, but not before Socrates had left his mark on the competition with the most nonchalant, arrogant penalty seen in the tournament.
Awarded a spot-kick against Poland, Socrates took a one-step run-up and took a long, slow backswing before slamming the ball right into the top left hand corner of the net. It was a remarkable, unstoppable, penalty.
However, after 120 minutes of running in the searing heat of Mexico City's Azteca Stadium, Socrates' legs didn't quite have the same power left in them. His exhaustion was apparent when he couldn't quite connect with a cross to score into an open goal, leading to the penalty shoot-out.
Socrates was first up for Brazil and, using the same technique, his spot kick didn't have the same elevation as his effort earlier in the tournament and his kick was brilliantly saved by French keeper Joel Bats.
It proved to be Socrates' last kick in the World Cup as France went through and Brazil went home early again.
He may never have lifted the World Cup, but Socrates' performances on the world stage make him an all-time great of the game, and one whose performances will live long in the memory.
His death will be mourned not only by Brazil, but by those who remembered a magical footballer and one of the true footballing icons of the 1980s.
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