Wednesday, July 09, 2014

We're Not in 1974 Anymore...



Darn it. So, there is to be no repeat(esque) in 2014 of the 1974 World Cup Final to tie in with the current drawing project (the current Germany, already qualified, being, to all intents & purposes, in terms of colours & history, the old West Germany of that time, & only Toni Kroos of the team/squad seems to have been born in the East, even: those, by birth, from further east again, in Poland, are better represented, in the form of Podolski & the record-setting Klose), but how close such an eventuality came, with only the familiar ‘lottery of penalties’ thwarting what was beginning to seem like the will of TOoT in arranging such a pleasing coincidence through the sheer force & designs of art. Perhaps it was instant karma, though, that Holland should lose the semi-final shoot-out after Tim Krul’s ugly, boorish antics helped them prevail at the same deciding stage of the game against Costa Rica in the previous round.


For all that the match might most kindly be described as attritional (not necessarily unexpectedly, given that Holland managed to score a total of 2 goals squeezed into 3 minutes of the 5 1/2 hours ‘football’ they played over the course of the 3 knockout rounds, & one of those a penalty indeed, & Argentina came into the semi after a pair of ground-out 1 – 0 wins in the eighth- & quarter-finals), it was a glorious aesthetic spectacle to admire in that both teams turned out, resplendently, in their traditional & classic first-choice kits, the orange-white-orange Dutch combo, & the sky blue & white stripes with black shorts of Argentina: nice, & something of a rarity in this tournament.


[image sourced from The Guardian]

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