Socrates

Socrates Patricio is a Goalballer from Brazil aged 40. He currently plays for New Zealand side Christchuch Speed. He has previously played for Sao Paulo, Birmingham Bulls, Jersey West, Munchen Muncih, Durban SC, Turin SC and Barking Athletic. He has been capped 147 times for Brazil playing mainly as a forward. He is regarded as one of the best players ever.

Sao Paulo and early career
Socrates started his career in the youth systems of Sao Paulo. He made his first appearance on the 24th of April 1990 against Fortalezan Reds in which he scored twice in the 4-1 win. He was selected for the Brazil team for the 1992 Copa Sudamercana. He scored on the opening group game against Bolivia, coming on as a late substitute in the 6-0 win. He then started against Paraguay in a narrow 2-1 win. He scored his second goal in the final game in a 1-0 win over the Falkland Islands. In the Quarter Finals, Brazil was drawn against Ecuador. Socrates scored twice in a 4-2 victory. Socrates recieved a yellow card for dissent becoming his second in the tournemant so he missed out on the semi final 3-2 loss to Venezuela. After his performances he was snapped up by Birmingham Bulls for 23 million.

English Career
He joined Bulls aged 20 and made his debut against Swansea, scoring 5 goals in a 5-0 win. He scored 95 goals in 89 games. At the end of 1995 when he was 25, there was speculation over whether Socrates would stay at the club. He announced that he would be loaned to Jersey West for a full season. At JW he scored 3 goals in 6 games being injured most of the season. At the end of the season it was announced that he had signed a three year contract with Munchen Munich after missing out on the World Cup with injury.

Munchen Munich
Munchen Munich was his 4th club and third in Europe, he joined when he was 27 and scored 89 goals in 89 games. He became the first Brazilian player to score a double-hatrick in the UEGA Champions Trophy. As a results he was selected for the 2000 Copa Sudamericana. He scored 2 goals in each group game against Galapagos islands in an 8-0 win, Easter Island in a 2-1 win and Chile in a 2-2 draw. He scored and then scored an own goal in the quarter final versus Peru. The match was won 3-1. In the semi-finals against Colombia, he scored a hat-trick despite losing 6-4. He recieved the Golden Bat scoring 10 goals. In 2002 he was part of the world cup winning side. He ran out of contract at Munchen Munich in 2003 aged 33.

Finishing up
He was signed by Durban SC in 2003 and won the Sudafrika Premier. He had a dispute with the owners and was released. Italian side Turin took advantage of his free transfer availability and he signed a 5 year contract. He scored 56 goals in 110 games and secured 5th, 6th, 6th, 8th and 4th places for the club.In 2009 he signed for English County 5th League side Barking Athletic. He scored 45 goals in 38 games and the club and they gained promotion to League 2. In the next season he got injured pre season so he missed the first half of the season. He still managed to score 15 goals in 10 games. Braking gained promotion to League 1 via the play offs. In League 1 Socrates only managed 9 goals in 17 appearances for the club. He left in 2012 when the club were relegated. On the 23rd of August 2012, Socrates signed a 2 year contract with Christcurch Speed competing in the NZ Championship. He has scored once so far in his 4 apps.