World Cup '74 Portrait Collection: Squad #10 (Italy)

all drawings graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil, each 30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #244 (Emmanuel Sanon: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #230 (Sandro Mazzola: Italy)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The Project continues with this drawing representing Sandro Mazzola, who was featured in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 sticker albums (the former providing our original source image in this instance), & subsequently selected for inclusion in the official Italy squad for the Finals, where he went on to play in each of his country’s 3 First Round group matches, after which they exited proceedings in disappointing fashion.

Another of those players with a fine World Cup pedigree, prior to 1974 the legendary Mazzola (a star also for his only club Internazionale) had played in all of the Italians’ matches at both the 1966 & 1970 Finals, nine in total, scoring in the very first of these, against Chile, in England.

This drawing of a randomly-chosen 16^th Italian player brings to a close the second of our completed squads, following Saturday’s finalizing of the Uruguay selection. 

World Cup '74 Portrait #227 (Luis Cubilla: Uruguay)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Continuing the Project with this re-mediation of an image of Luis Cubilla, who was pictured in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 commemorative albums (the latter providing our original source material from which the drawing comes to be processed in this instance), & selected as a member of the Uruguay squad for the tournament, at which he appeared in two of the Uruguayans’ three matches, the defeats to Holland (during which he was replaced after 62 minutes) & then Sweden (where Cubilla himself came on as a 43^rd-minute substitute in what proved to be his last international).

Luis Cubilla passed away in March 2013, during which time we were working on the original ‘pixellated’ format of the 1974 World Cup drawing project.

By a quirk of the random nature by which each of the subjects have been selected for a particular drawing (essentially to be analogous to the manner in which the original stickers were intended to be collected & in practice would be), the drawing of Luis Cubilla completes the World Cup ’74 portrait project’s 16-man Uruguay squad, the first to be so even though it was the last to begin, the first Uruguayan out of the hat not occurring until the 55th selection – by way of comparison, seven Italy players had already been drawn by that stage.

World Cup '74 Portrait #226 (Giuseppe Sabadini: Italy)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

This latest drawing to be processed in the Project depicts Giuseppe Sabadini, who was represented in the Panini ’München 74’ sticker album & included in the official Italy squad for the Finals, but not then selected to appear in any of the Italians’ 3 matches as they made a First Round exit.

World Cup '74 Portrait #216 (Fabio Capello: Italy)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Kicking-off the new year (& wishing a happy one to all) with a continuation of the current drawing project & in this particular instance a re-mediation of an image of Fabio Capello, who was featured in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 commemorative sticker albums, & included in the Italy squad for the Finals themselves, where he went on to play in each of the Italians’ 3 ultimately unsuccessful First Round group matches, scoring the late merely consolatory goal in the 1 – 2 defeat to Poland that sealed the Azzurri’s early elimination from the tournament.

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 #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 #166 (Arsene Auguste: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s subject is Arsene Auguste, who was featured in both the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ & Panini ’München 74’, sticker albums, honoured amongst a most select mere 6-player ‘squad’ representing minnows (Panini were brutal about this fact) Haiti in the latter.

On a point of visual interest, FKS & Panini featured the same photographic image upon their respective stickers, but reversed: the original source for this drawing was the FKS sticker, which might picture Arsene Auguste as he was or otherwise the mirror image of.

Included in the official Haitian squad for the Finals, Auguste went on to play twice in the tournament, in Haiti’s matches against Italy (1 – 3) & Poland (0 – 7) before missing their third & last defeat, to Argentina (1 – 4). He died in 1993, aged 42.

World Cup '74 Portrait #143 (Dino Zoff: Italy)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup Portrait #140 (Luciano Spinosi: Italy)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #134 (Gianni Rivera: Italy)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #114 (Franco Causio: Italy)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #86 (Jan Jongbloed: Holland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s subject to be drawn from the random-generator features Jan Jongbloed, the source of whose image is, it must be admitted, the first of one of the few ‘cheats’ that will be employed over the course of the project, as his is one of those names vividly remembered from the time, from the televised experience of the 1974 World Cup, that appeared in neither the FKS or Panini sticker albums published to anticipate/celebrate/commemorate the event, thus necessitating research to find a constructed ‘original’ from which to make the enlarged photocopy that serves as the drawing’s immediate visual reference, the photographic image incorporated within being of a suitable vintage to accord with those upon the genuine sources from the albums themselves.

The inclusion of Jongbloed in the Holland squad for the finals seems a genuine wild card, for he had appeared for the national team but twice before, in a friendly against Argentina immediately prior to the World Cup &, previous to that, as a substitute in a match against Denmark way back in 1962 (indeed, it is a remarkable feature that the three goalkeepers in the ’74 Dutch squad had ‘amassed’ a mere 11 caps between them up to the time of the competition, what appears frightening international inexperience for an event of such magnitude), although, as first-choice ‘keeper, he went on to play in all 7 of the Dutch’s teams matches on their way to the Final (hence the memorability attached to the name).

Returning to the present & the 2014 World Cup, this drawing was processed to the nail-bitingly thrilling accompaniment of our favourite 'Celeste' - Uruguay's - 2 - 1 victory over England: great stuff, & a match for our other favourite Italy's win against the same opponents.

World Cup '74 Portrait #32 (Pietro Anastasi: Italy)

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

 

World Cup '74 Portrait #29 (Mauro Bellugi: Italy)

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

 

World Cup '74 Portrait #22 (Romeo Benetti: Italy)

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm



World Cup '74 Portrait #19 (Francesco Morini: Italy)

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Following hot on the heels of a recently-drawn pair of his teammates is a randomly-chosen fourth member already of the Italian squad, Francesco Morini, who featured in both the FKS & Panini ‘World Cup ‘74’ sticker albums &, subsequently, for Italy in all three of their matches at the 1974 World Cup Finals, being substituted after 66 minutes of the second, a 1 – 1 draw with Argentina.



World Cup '74 Portrait #18 (Giorgio Chinaglia: Italy)

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

This most recent portrait subject in the ‘hauntological’ drawing project features Giorgio Chinaglia of Italy, as chosen to be represented in the form of a sticker in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ collectors’ album, from which source image-object the drawing, via the ‘transitional’ image of an enlarged photocopy (somewhat degraded in quality), was subsequently processed.
Chinaglia also appeared in the Panini-published ’München 74’ commemorative album & was selected for inclusion in the official 22-man Italian squad for the Finals, where he appeared in Italy’s first First Round group match against Haiti, being substituted after 70 minutes by Pietro Anastasi who scored final goal of 3 – 1 win (Haiti’s 1, scored by Emmanuel Sanon, being by far the most memorable event of the game, given that it was the first goal conceded by the Italians & their goalkeeper Dino Zoff in over 1,000 minutes’ playing time), & then their third (a 1 – 2 defeat to Poland which resulted in Italy’s early elimination from the tournament), during which he was replaced at half-time. In common with the great majority of the players involved in the 1974 World Cup – the televised coverage of which provided my first real exposure to football – Chinaglia’s was not a name that registered at the time, but subsequently it/he came to notice as one of the stars of the mid-70’s NASL, with New York Cosmos, regularly featuring in the pages of Shoot! magazine, one recalls.
Passing away in 2012, Giorgio Chinaglia is another of those from the ’74 World Cup no longer with us, although the ‘ghostly’ images remain.



World Cup '74 Portrait #14 (Paolini Pulici: Italy)

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

(Re)presenting the latest randomly-generated portrait subject in the form of ‘Paolini’ (rather Paolo/’Paolino’) Pulici, who was selected to appear as such in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ collectors’ stamp album (the drawing being processed, in the usual manner of this project, with immediate visual reference to an enlarged monochrome photocopy, of somewhat dubious image quality, of the original image-object of the sticker of the player concerned) & the official Italy squad for the tournament, although subsequently he played not a minute of the Italians’ matches in the finals, as also proved to be the case in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, a curious & unfortunate statistic indeed.