Friday, May 30, 2014

World Cup '74 Portrait #69 (Rudi Krol: Holland)




graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest subject to be randomly chosen for the drawing project proved to be Rudi or Ruud Krol, who was selected to appear in both the FKS & Panini ‘World Cup ‘74’ sticker albums, for inclusion in the official Holland squad for the Finals, & subsequently played throughout the tournament, in all of the Dutch team’s seven matches on their way to the final itself, scoring twice from his defensive position (although the ‘Total Football’ of Holland allowed for much fluidity of movement), once for his country against Argentina in a 4 – 0 win, & once against them, an own goal for Bulgaria (of no consequence, as the Dutch won 4 – 1).

Given the profile enjoyed by Holland during the 1974 World Cup, which event they illuminated, a number of the players’ names registered at the time & stuck in the memory, including that of Ruud Krol, who is thus one of the relatively few familiar names from the time.

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