So yesterday was the football final in what is the Brazilian equivalent of the British Premier League – Brasileirão. The day started though with sad news for many Brazilians – Sócrates, one of the most talented midfielders of all time, had died.
Now I do not pretend that I am some big football fan but I do know who Sócrates was and that he was a very good player in his time. However, what I have learnt since his death is that he was so much more than just a football legend. He was famous for his vision and physical strength on the pitch but it is what he did off it as well which is of interest to me. Sócrates, 57, played football during the years of Brazil’s military dictatorship when the slogan of the government was ‘Love it or Leave it’ for those that did not wish to abide by their rules. Sócrates choose to show that there was an alternative to his legions of fans and fellow players, by co-creating ‘Corinthians Democracy’ a way in which players, coaching and club staff could vote on things that were considered important, such as which players to sign, ground changes, practice times etc. This organisation was a huge success and helped bring the club together as one big team, as well as a way to publicly protest against the military regime’s treatment of fellow players, clubs and fans. It seems that Sócrates was part of the new Brazil before it was actually in existence, which is why the news channels and papers here in Brazil have continued to describe him as so much more than a player and why President Dilma described him as ‘a champion of citizenship’.
Another example of his off-pitch activities was his vocal criticism of the World Cup 2014 preparations here in Brazil, only recently he said ‘“[It has been] very badly organised. There is an inversion of values. The way it’s being done, it would be better for Brazil not to have the World Cup. It is a private product that is using public resources.” We can only hope that Ronaldo, who joined the World Cup organising committee last week, has taken heed of Sócrates wise comments – I doubt it though.
Sócrates was also a qualified medical doctor, and wrote for various newspapers and other publications. His greatest flaw was his love of alcohol, he was once recorded as saying ‘I drink, I smoke, I think.’ And it was this flaw that ultimately contributed to his premature death of acute septicemia yesterday.
A few hours after Sócrates died in a Sao Paulo hospital his beloved team ‘Corinthians’ played the match that would decide who would be champions of the national league – Brasileirão. The fight for the title was between a team from Rio – Vasco (who were playing another Rio team Fluminense) and Corinthians (who were playing another team from Sao Paulo, and their arch-rival Palmeiras). After tense and aggressive matches from all four sides – including on-pitch fighting between players towards the end of both games – Corinthians secured the title win, for the fifth time in the clubs history. A fitting end to the day in which one of their greatest players passed away.
Since I arrived in Brazil I have witnessed how football fans here follow their team like they would a religion. Week after week they loudly and passionately support their team of choice, and are quick to criticize their enemies. Fans of Corinthians are said to be the biggest in size in Brazil by far, and the club is the richest in terms of revenue because of this. Football is big business in a country of nearly 200 million people, and nearly everyone, and I mean everyone supports a team. I support the Corinthians, partly due to this being my boyfriends team of choice (and all his family) and also partly due to the fact it does have some British roots – its name for one was chosen as homage to a great British club called Corinthian from Sao Paulo. So yesterday I watched the game, and duly celebrated my adopted team’s success.However, I was not prepared for what came next….
After the game on the way home through my small (normally deadly quiet on a Sunday evening) city we started to pass cars decorated with huge flags, honking their horns in celebration. These cars seemed to grow quickly in number until the roads were blocked completely with a spontaneous celebration parade by Corinthian fans. After a quick supermarket trip i came outside to find roads shut off and a large crowd of people partying in the middle of the road, with yet more people spilling out of bars and houses to join in. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. There are of course celebrations by fans in the UK when teams win, but this is normally a tightly organised event with a massive police presence and start and finish time. Yesterday was a spontaneous show of sheer happiness (and relief) by Corinthian fans. There were similar celebrations all over the state, and of course there was trouble and disruption by some, but in my city this did not seem to be the case (something the police obviously agreed with as I saw a total of ..erm…3). There was just music, dancing and drinking in the streets. So congratulations Corinthian fans, 5 times Champions and a fitting last tribute to one of their biggest fans and greatest players:- Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, MD (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011).
Click on this link to see a clip of the celebrations last night in Campos:
abritishgirlinbrazil 