He considers it shameful, though, that few Brazilian players choose to speak out on issues beyond football nowadays.
Writing in The Irish Times later that week, soccer correspondent Peter Byrne offered up the following commentary after watching the Brazilian victory in Mexico.
Socrates helped found the Corinthians Democracy movement with the playing squad taking over the management of the club.
Off the pitch, the team personified democracy by resolving to make inclusive and communal decisions that included even the cleaner.
He eventually went into coaching, first as an assistant for Belgium from 2009 to 2012, then as head coach from 2012 to 2016.
Socrates, in contrast, was renowned for his articulate and outspoken views on the game and its place in society: Football came by accident.