The day football died as Brazil legend Socrates led greatest side never to win World Cup

Chief among them was the day I covered Socrates’s cameo role for Garforth Town in 2004.

With glorious absurdity, Socrates played one game for the West Yorkshire club against Tadcaster Albion in the Northern Counties East League.

He came on as a substitute for the last 12 minutes and barely touched the ball on a freezing afternoon.

Socrates – 50 at the time – had come to England for 10 days to support work being undertaken by Simon Clifford, the club’s owner and manager.

Clifford ran more than 600 Brazilian-style football schools for youngsters and through that had developed a link with the former Brazil captain.

The most surreal moment of Socrates’s cameo was when his arrival was announced in deadpan fashion over the public address system.

“Substitution for Garforth Town, ladies and gentlemen. Replacing No 2 Matt Higginbottom is No 6 Socrates.”

Prior to that, Socrates had been burned into my earliest footballing recollections – and possibly yours, too – as a member of Brazil’s 1982 World Cup team in Spain.

It was surely the greatest team never to win the World Cup, packed as it was with star names such as Eder, Zico, Falcao, Oscar and, of course, the bearded wonder himself.

To a wide-eyed youngster, those players seemed almost heavenly figures.

Their yellow shirts gave them an angelic air as they moved the ball around with divine dexterity.

For all the world, it looked as though Brazil would win the tournament as they swept all before them in the first round group stage.

They beat the Soviet Union 2-1 in their opening match, a 75th-minute goal from Socrates cancelling out Andriy Bal’s 34th-minute opener before Eder scored an 87th-minute winner.

In their next game, Scotland were dispatched 4-1 as Zico, Oscar, Eder and Falcao got on the scoresheet after David Narey had given Scotland an 18th-minute lead.

And, in their final first-round fixture, Brazil pummelled New Zealand 4-0 with goals from Zico (2), Falcao and Serginho.

The second round saw the remaining 12 countries divided into four groups of three, with each team playing the other once and the top team from each group going through to the semi-finals.

Brazil won their first game against Argentina 3-1 thanks to goals from Zico, Serginho and Junior before Ramon Diaz’s late consolation for the Argentines.

But they lost their second fixture to Italy 3-2 to depart the tournament in unexpected fashion.

It was surely one of the greatest games ever played.

Paolo Rossi fired Italy, who had defeated Argentina, in front in the fifth minute only for Socrates to equalise seven minutes later when he exchanged passes with Zico and fired home right-footed from a narrow angle.

Rossi scored again on 25 before Falcao levelled on 68, the midfield player wheeling away in unforgettable celebration.

The impetus seemed with Brazil, who needed only to draw to reach the last four, but Rossi broke their hearts in the 74th-minute with a close-range finish to complete his hat-trick.

Improbably, unthinkably, Brazil were out – but they had set new aesthetic standards with their flowing football.

The result was seen not only as a defeat for Brazil, but as a defeat of their attacking philosophy by less talented but considerably more organised players.

Zico called it “the day football died”, adding: “We played artistic football with beauty, all about goals and attacking.

“Italy were the opposite, completely preoccupied with stopping the other side playing.”

There was no doubt it was the day when “the system”, for want of a better term, triumphed over freedom of expression, a day that marked a subtle shift in emphasis.

After that, it was no longer sufficient for a country to have the best players and simply let them get on with it; organisation was seen as key to maximising performance.

Socrates also believed the defeat symbolic.

“It may have been the last side to represent Brazil in a World Cup that epitomised the country,” he reflected.

“It was irreverent, joyful, creative, free-flowing. From that point onwards, the Seleçao became like any other first-world country national side.”

Italy went on to win the 1982 competition.

Two goals from Rossi gave them a 2-0 victory over Poland in the semi-final and set up a meeting with West Germany.

Rossi gave Italy a 57th-minute lead in the final before they increased their advantage through Marco Tardelli (69) and Alessandro Altobelli (81).

Paul Breitner pulled one back for the Germans two minutes later but Italy held on to complete a historic triumph while Socrates et al pondered what might have been.