Brazil's midfield maestro in the 1982 World Cup discusses this year's contenders, smoking and his burgeoning literary career.
What's your new book about?
It's fiction and it's about the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. It will come out in two years, God willing. The idea is to show Brazil to the rest of the world.
Fiction – that's a new departure?
Yes. The idea is to create several characters who are foreigners coming to the World Cup. The book will be a compilation of their stories and how they get to know Brazil – the good things of this country and also its problems.
The championship will be pure fiction and the final will be Brazil versus Argentina, with Argentina winning 2-0, both goals scored by Messi. Heh heh. If you have an idea for an English character, tell me, then we'll come up with various scenarios and then we'll put them all together. Everyone has different experiences in Brazil and we want to put in the best.
Can you imagine, say, a Chinese man watching a game in Manaus on a Sunday and then having to get to Salvador for a game on Wednesday? Not a chance he would make it! He'll get lost in the Pantanal [the world's largest wetland], then fall in love with, say, a Korean. Everyone who comes to Brazil falls in love with someone. Obviously! We're the most sexualised people in the world.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm still playing music and I've got a theatre project on the go, too. It is a play that uses football as a backdrop. It's by Oduvaldo Vianna Filho and it's called Chapetuba Futebol Clube and I'll be on stage, acting. We are raising money for that at the moment.
Who's going to win the World Cup?
Not even God knows. Really, I don't have the faintest idea. But these countries have what it takes: Spain, Brazil, Holland, England and Argentina, if they have a good team.
Do you really think England can win it?
It all depends on how Wayne Rooney plays. No one knows whether he will be on form, after this recent injury. Without Rooney, the team is significantly not as good.
Do you like the Brazil squad?
It is a very bureaucratic team, very conservative… they'll have problems. There's a new kid at Santos, Paulo Henrique, who is exceptional. He is already the best player in Brazil. He is playing amazingly well and Dunga [the coach] didn't want to take him. He didn't take Ronaldinho; he only chose defensive midfielders, players who mark, players who run. If Kaká isn't playing well, the team will be badly out of kilter.
But isn't Dunga simply being sensible?
Being sensible isn't always the best thing. Who says that being sensible is a sign of quality? I don't think so.
So who would you have taken?
Henrique, for a start. Ronaldinho, too. Players with creativity.
Does the "sensibleness" of Dunga's squad perhaps symbolise the fact that Brazil considers itself a more "sensible" country these days?
Dunga is a gaúcho – he is from the extreme south of Brazil – and they are the most reactionary Brazilians. His team is very coherent, in terms of coherence with his world view and his background. I understand why he has chosen the team that he has; it's just that I don't think it is very Brazilian.
Sócrates will be talking about Brazil and football as part of Festival Brazil, at the Southbank Centre, London, SE1, on 18 July
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