Brazilian soccer star Socrates in 'critical condition'

Former Brazilian soccer star Socrates was in critical condition in an intensive care unit early Saturday after suffering an intestinal infection, his doctors said. Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Hospital said in a statement that the footballer, Sampaio de Sousa Vieira de Oliveira, 57, "was in critical condition due to a septic shock of intestinal origin." The statement added that he was breathing with a ventilator and using a dialysis machine. Socrates was taken to the hospital late Friday after suffering food poisoning, his wife said. He was hospitalized twice in August and September this year with bleeding in his digestive tract, and recognized after these incidents that he had problems with alcohol, especially during the era when he was playing. In a recent television interview, Socrates said he had considered alcohol his "companion," adding that its regular use did not affect his performance on the soccer field. "Alcohol did not affect my career, in part because I never had the physical build to play this game," he recalled. "Soccer became my profession only when I was already 24," he said. "I was too thin, and when I was young, I did not have the opportunity to prepare myself physically for the sport." Socrates played for the Brazilian national team in 1982 and 1986 -- during the World Cup tournaments in Spain and Mexico. He also wore the strip of Brazilian club Timao (1978-84) and Italian Fiorentina (1984-85). He was one of the founders of a movement known as Corinthian Democracy, which formed in the 1980s. Under its precepts, all decisions made by soccer clubs, including the contracting of new players and training schedules, had to be approved by a vote of all members.