World Cup '74 Portrait #200 (Mwepu Ilunga: Zaire)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

200 up for the Project in the form of a remediated image of Mwepu Ilunga, who was selected for representation in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album & also as a member of the Zaire squad for the Finals, where he went on to play in all three of his nation’s matches, becoming notorious during the closing minutes of the third, the 0 – 3 defeat to Brazil, for kicking away the ball as Rivelino prepared to take a free kick at the Zaire goal - not, as was at the time assumed, in an act of blatant ignorance of the basic rules & protocols of the game, but, rather, in protest at the Zaire players not being paid as promised for their efforts: rather than being merely cautioned, as he was by the referee, it had been Ilunga’s intention that he be sent off to emphasize his & his teammates’ point.

For all that the particular name didn’t register with me at the time, the incident certainly did, subsequently to become of those iconic World Cup moments.

World Cup '74 Portrait #199 (Julio Montero-Castillo: Uruguay)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest randomly-chosen subject is Julio Montero-Castillo, who was represented in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album (from which original source, then photocopied with its image quality somewhat degraded, the drawing came to be processed) & subsequently selected for inclusion in the official Uruguay squad for the Finals, making one appearance at the tournament in the Uruguayans’ first match against Holland, during which he was sent off, although such facts did not impinge upon my novice’s consciousness during exposure to the television coverage of the event.

By something of a coincidence, research reveals that Julio Montero-Castillo’s son Paolo Montero also became a professional footballer, going on to play with distinction particularly for Juventus but also establishing a record number of career sendings-off in Serie A history.

World Cup '74 Portrait #198 (Tarcisio Burgnich: Italy)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Continuing the Project with a re-mediated drawing of an image of Tarcisio Burgnich, who, as a stalwart of the Italy team for some years, was represented in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 sticker albums & selected as a member of the official Italian squad for the Finals (his third such honour, having appeared in 2 matches at the 1966 tournament & all 6 in 1970, even scoring one of his total of 2 international goals in the semi-final against West Germany), where he went to play in all 3 of Italy’s matches before they made a First Round exit.

For all this pedigree, Burgnich’s was not a name that registered during my experience of the 1974 World Cup, however.

World Cup '74 Portrait #197 (Andrzej Szarmach: Poland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today we (re)present, randomly-chosen as usual, what constitutes the fourth of the Project’s subjects & drawings processed from a constructed ‘sticker’ image, of one of the vividly-remembered names from my experience of the televised coverage of the 1974 World Cup who previously had appeared in neither the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ or Panini ’München 74’ commemorative albums which have inspired & provide the original source material for the Project.

This, then, is a re-mediated image, of a 1974ish vintage, of Andrzej Szarmach, who came to be selected as a member of the Poland squad for the Finals, subsequently starting in six of the Poles’ matches (being substituted in five), scoring 5 goals, all in the First Round & including a hat-trick in the 7 – 0 thrashing of Haiti, missing the only game the Poles lost, crucially, to West Germany in the countries’ effective semi-final: given this transpiration of events, he might reasonably be regarded as being the tournament’s surprise packages’ surprise package, but instantly memorable for his exploits, & subsequently achieving some form of legendary status by playing at both the 1978 & 1982 World Cups & scoring a goal at each.

World Cup '74 Portrait #196 (Erwin Kremers: West Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest drawing in the Project is a re-mediation of an image of Erwin Kremers, who was selected to appear in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 sticker album collections but not the West Germany squad for the Finals (his twin brother Helmut, who only featured in the Panini ’München 74’ album, did make the West German cut for the tournament, but only in reserve, not making an appearance in any of the hosts’ matches), being thus another of their particular ‘ghosts’, hauntologically present via such items of memorabilia.

World Cup '74 Portrait #195 (Marco Antonio: Brazil)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The Project continues with this re-mediated image of Marco Antonio, who was represented in both the FKS & Panini sticker albums commemorating the 1974 World Cup (the former providing the original source material from which the drawing was processed in this instance) & chosen as a member of the official Brazil squad for the Finals, but was subsequently not selected to take the field of play during the tournament, thus remaining one of its many unknowns to my personal experience of events.

World Cup '74 Portrait #194 (Kalambay Otep'a: Zaire)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The most recent randomly-chosen subject to be re-mediated in the form of drawing is an image of Kalambay Otepa (correctly without the apostrophe, it seems), who was represented in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album & chosen as a member of the official Zaire squad for the Finals, but subsequently was the only one of the 3 goalkeepers in the selection not to take the field of play during the tournament.

World Cup '74 Portrait #193 (Konrad Weise: East Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Continuing the Project with a drawing representing the somewhat bleached countenance of Konrad Weise, who was featured amongst the East Germany squad as proposed by the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album, which source image provided the starting-point for the drawing (an enlarged photocopy, of degraded image quality, being the immediate visual reference), & chosen as a member of his nation’s official selection for the Finals, where he went on to appear in & throughout all six of the East Germans’ matches at the tournament, although unbeknownst/unmemorably to me at the time.

World Cup '74 Portrait #192 (Barry Hulshoff: Holland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest image in the Project features as its subject Barry Hulshoff, who was represented in both the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ & Panini ’München 74’ commemorative sticker albums (the original source for the drawing being provided, as is more often the case, by the former), but did not appear at the Finals, unfortunately being unavailable for selection for the Holland squad due to injury.

World Cup '74 Portrait #191 (Daniel Carnevali: Argentina)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Featuring for the second time a re-mediated image of Daniel Carnevali, the original source of which was used to process another drawing of the subject as part of an earlier, abandoned incarnation of the 1974 World Cup portrait project, to be found here.

World Cup '74 Portrait #190 (Piet Schrijvers: Holland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s randomly-chosen re-mediated subject is an image of Piet Schrijvers, who was represented in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album (from which original source this drawing came to be processed) & subsequently selected as a goalkeeping member of the official Holland squad for the Finals, although he did not go on to make a playing appearance during the tournament, obviously under such circumstances remaining another of the ‘unheard-ofs’ to me (at the 1978 World Cup, however, & as a big bloke fashionably sporting what seemed a most inappropriate but, for footballers of the time, almost mandatory bubble perm, he was an unforgettable presence, despite research revealing that he only actually played in 3 matches, & was substituted, injured, after a mere 21 minutes of the third of those).

World Cup '74 Portrait #189 (Rene Houseman: Argentina)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest re-mediated subject is René Houseman, the drawing being processed from reference to the third of four ‘cheat’ constructed stickers, featuring found images of players whose names are remembered from my experience of the televised coverage of the event but who were not selected for inclusion in either the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ or Panini ’München 74’ commemorative albums that otherwise provide the original source material upon which the project is founded &, indeed, was inspired by.

As previously mentioned, in connection with Houseman’s Argentina teammate Carlos Babington, by their absence from such (repositories of) memorabilia, their lack of a tangible physical presence, their leaving no trace, such players are perhaps the most ‘ghostly’ of all in such a context.

Back to our particular subject,  René Houseman appeared, either from the kick-off (occasionally being withdrawn) or otherwise introduced as a substitute, in each of the Argentinians’ 6 matches at the tournament, scoring 3 goals & obviously generally creating a memorable impression, possibly because of the ‘Englishness’ of his surname (like Babington’s, the only other of the Argentinian team/squad’s names to stick in the memory) but not least visually, as photographs suggest he habitually wore his socks rolled down to his ankles, as a few players did back in the day (‘before health & safety went mad’, etc), thus marking him out, probably for spectators, viewers & opponents alike.

World Cup '74 Portrait #188 (Mavula Mafuila: Zaire)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Continuing the Project, with this randomly-chosen subject being Mavula Mafuila, pictured most unusually for a footballer in bespectacled fashion, this drawing ‘de-photographized’ & re-mediated from a photocopy of the original sticker featuring  an image of the player as it appeared in  the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ collectors’ album, featured amongst the selection representing the debutant name of Zaire.

Chosen as a member of his nation’s official squad for the Finals, Mavula Mafuila, who died in 1997, did not subsequently go on to make a playing appearance during the tournament, thus inevitably being another of those personally unheard-of ‘ghosts’ whose presence is made manifest through such items & objects of memorabilia as the sticker albums which are serving as the original source material for the project.

World Cup '74 Portrait #187 (Ernie Campbell: Australia)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest subject to be re-mediated in the drawing project is Ernie Campbell, who was represented in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album & subsequently selected for inclusion in the official Australia squad for the Finals, where he appeared for the first half of the Australians’ second match, the 0 – 3 defeat to hosts West Germany, being substituted at half-time (with the score at 0 – 2).

Needless to say, given such a fleeting involvement in proceedings, Ernie Campbell’s was another of the names that escaped attention at the time of my novice’s exposure to the television coverage of the tournament.

World Cup '74 Portrait #186 (Denis Milar: Uruguay)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today our randomly-chosen subject depicts Denis Milar, who was selected to appear in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 sticker albums & as a member of the Uruguay squad for the tournament itself, appearing in all 3 of his country’s matches, as a 64^th-minute substitute against Holland & then throughout versus Bulgaria & Sweden, although remaining unknown to me at the time.

World Cup '74 Portrait #185 (Giacinto Facchetti: Italy)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The portrait subject here is Giacinto Facchetti, re-mediated from the sticker image as it appears in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ album (the player also being represented in the Panini ’München 74’ counterpart).

Although I would have been ignorant of such facts at the time of experiencing the televised coverage of the Finals (essentially my introduction to football), Facchetti captained the Italy squad & team, appearing in all 3 of the Italians’ matches in West Germany as they made another unsatisfactory First Round exit, having previously appeared at both the 1966 & 1970 World Cup Finals (a further 9 appearances, also captaining the team in 1970, to the final).

In other news, today's Guardian website carries a link to a lovely recollective story, of an experience of one of the great European nights in the history of Wrexham FC &, to be perfectly honest, any British club.
Personally, one recalls listening under the bed covers to the late-night radio commentary of events as they unfolded, unbelievably, to their incredible (then & now, 30 years on, still) denouement: a wonderful memory.

World Cup '74 Portrait #184 (Adrian Alston: Australia)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s drawing in the Project has as its subject a re-mediation of an image of Adrian Alston, as featured on a sticker in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ album, in which he was included amongst the selection representing Australia (not making the reduced 6-player cut for the Panini ’München 74’ publication). Subsequently chosen as a member of the official Australian squad (Preston-born, was yet another émigré amongst), Alston went on to appear in each of his adopted country’s 3 matches at the Finals.

I doubt very much whether his name registered during my experience of the televised coverage of the tournament, but certainly it came to attention during the 1974-75 Football League season, by which time Alston was playing for Luton Town in the First Division.

An earlier drawing representing Adrian Alston from a previous incarnation of the World Cup ’74 project can be found here.

World Cup '74 Portrait #183 (Wilmes Piqueham: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

This most recent addition to the drawing project features a representation of the erroneously-named 'Wilmes Piqueham', as sourced from the original sticker of the player as it appeared amongst the Haiti selection in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ collectors’ album.

Wilner Piquant, as he actually was/is named (on more than one occasion the FKS album played pretty free & easy with players' names but none more than Piquant's), was in fact chosen as a member of the official Haiti squad but, as one of the reserve goalkeepers to first-choice Henri Francillon, did not make a playing appearance at the tournament.

World Cup '74 Portrait #182 (Herbert Wimmer: West Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest subject in the project is an image of Herbert Wimmer, who was represented in the Panini ’München 74’ sticker album, which provides the original source material for the drawing in this instance.

Selected as a member of the official West Germany squad for the 1974 World Cup Finals, Wimmer made two appearances at the tournament, as a substitute against Australia & then starting against Yugoslavia before being replaced himself late in that game.

It would be a little later, possibly during the 1976 European Championships (he played the first half of the Final), certainly during his club career with Borussia Monchengladbach, that Herbert Wimmer’s name would become memorable to me.

World Cup '74 Portrait #181 (Gunter Netzer: West Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s drawing is a ‘re-mediation’ of an enlarged photocopy of an original sticker image of Gunter Netzer as was/is featured in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ album, this original source chosen over the one that was included in the Panini ’München 74’ collection.

Although it would soon emerge from personal immersion in the game that Netzer was a big name in international football in the Seventies, & had starred for West Germany as they had stylishly won the 1972 European Championship, he played only the bittiest of parts at the ’74 World Cup, with but a single 69^th-minute substitute appearance, in the defeat to East Germany, to his name (a minute less, indeed, than Horst Hottges in the same match), which thus remained unknown to me at the time.