World Cup '74 Portrait Collection: Squad #8 (Haiti)

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

World Cup '74 Portrait #256 (Agustin Balbuena: Argentina)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Number 256, & the last of the portraits in the World Cup ’74 drawing project, which has taken just 3 weeks shy of a year to complete, the final randomly-chosen subject, the last one out of the hat, being another of the great majority of those represented to be unheard of/unremembered from my football novice’s experience of the televised coverage of the tournament.

For the record, a little light research has unearthed the facts that Agustin Balbuena, who was represented in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album (which of course provides the original source object/image from which the drawing is processed), was selected as a member of the official Argentina squad for the tournament & went to play in four matches for his country over its course, the opening 2 – 3 defeat to Poland, as a 52^nd-minute substitute in the victory over Haiti that secured qualification for the Second Phase & then in the first two matches there, the defeats to Holland &, confirming the Argentinians’ elimination, Brazil.

It’s a curious & interesting coincidence that the last subject in the Project should be a representative of Argentina, when that very country would be hosting the following football World Cup, in 1978, one in which I took a great deal more informed interest & that I remember in much more vivid detail, the players, matches, incidents, etc, & on the subject of which I happen to have acquired & possess a pair of sticker albums, published by FKS & Panini again. Surely not another Project beckoning…? Perhaps - but perhaps not straight away…

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

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #239 (Ernst Jean-Joseph: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #231 (Philippe Vorbe: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #205 (Pierre Bayonne: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest randomly-chosen subject/image to be re-mediated through the drawing process is (one of) Pierre Bayonne, who was represented in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album, amongst the 16-strong Haiti selection, but not the reduced 6-man group that had to suffice for the ‘minnow’ nations (also including both Australia & Zaire) in the Panini ’München 74’ collection.

Subsequently, Bayonne was chosen as a member of the official Haitian squad for the Finals, where he went on to play in all 3 of his country’s matches in the tournament, then the first & still the only World Cup for which Haiti have qualified.

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 #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 #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 #156 (Wilner Nazaire: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

A disappointingly slow week for the drawing project & the getting-on-with, but here is the latest subject, Wilner Nazaire, who was represented in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 sticker albums (the latter featuring only a reduced six-man selection for Haiti), chosen for the official Haitian squad & subsequently played, as captain, in all three matches at the tournament, being substituted after 25 minutes of the last, the 1 – 4 defeat to Argentina that followed the earlier losses to Italy (1 – 3) & Poland (0 – 7).

World Cup '74 Portrait #122 (Serge Ducoste: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #96 (Formose Gilles: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s random choice of subject is Formose Gilles, who was featured amongst the 16 players representing Haiti in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album but, subsequently, was not selected for the official Haitian squad for the Finals, thus being very much one of the ghosts of the ’74 World Cup, hauntologically present only via such an object of memorabilia (& related to through archives which record him having played in 2 matches during the qualifying competition).

World Cup '74 Portrait #73 (Fritz André: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest subject to be drawn from the random generator revealed himself to be Fritz André, a sticker representing whom was included in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ album (from which original source was made the enlarged photocopy, of consequently compromised image quality, that provided the immediate visual reference for the drawing process), & who was selected  for the official Haiti squad for the Finals, subsequently making but one brief appearance at the tournament, against Poland (André was replaced in the 37^th minute of the match, by which time Haiti already trailed 0 – 5, hurtling towards inevitable defeat).

World Cup '74 Portrait #62 (Guy Francois: Haiti)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s randomly-chosen subject is Guy Francois, who was selected to appear in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ stamp album &, subsequently, the Haiti squad for the tournament, during which he then played in the first two of his country’s three matches, the defeats to Italy & Poland.



World Cup '74 Portrait #56 (Mario Leandré: Haiti)

 

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

 

The latest subject to emerge from the  drawing project (a double meaning here, referring to both the randomly-choosing from a tin of images as well as the obvious evidence of the subsequent physical activity) proved to be & indeed is ‘Mario’ Leandré, as the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ collectors’ stamp album features him, although official records state his full forename(s) as being Joseph-Marion, who was among those selected for the official Haiti squad for the tournament &, coincidentally along with his brother Fritz, appeared as a substitute in the Haitians’ third & final match, a 1 – 4 defeat to Argentina that, at least in terms of scoreline, was a marginal improvement on the preceding 0 – 7 loss to Poland.

However, today of any is a day to never mind the drawing – the mighty Atlético Madrid have this evening become the champions of La Liga, their typically hard-earned 1 – 1 draw in the effective play-off at Barcelona finally, gloriously, having enabled them to do so. Congratulations & celebrations are well in order: we’re wearing our shirt (the short-sleeved ‘centenary’ one) in honour.



World Cup Portrait #49 (Claude Barthélemy: Haiti)

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm



World Cup '74 Portrait #31 (Roger St Vil: Haiti)

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm



World Cup '74 Portrait #27 (Henri Francillon: Haiti)

 

 

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm



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 #2 (Jean-Claude Désir: Haiti)

 

graphite & putty eraser/30x21cm

 

The second subject of the project is Jean-Claude Désir of Haiti, who was chosen for selection in both the FKS & Panini ‘World Cup 1974’ sticker albums that are serving as our original source material, & also as a member of his country’s official squad for the tournament, where he subsequently played in all 3 of Haiti’s first round group matches/defeats before their elimination at that stage.

Another of the predominantly unknown to me participants in the 1974 World Cup, during its time or since until investing in one or other of the albums, little detail seems to be available on the facts of the player’s career, but here’s a rather interesting newspaper photograph of the NASL’s Detroit Cougars squad for 1968, featuring a certain ‘John Desir’ second from the left of the front row, to shed at least a little light: another of the subsequent Haiti squad, Claude Barthélemy, is also pictured as a member of the Cougars’. By the time of the ’74 World Cup, Desir had returned to play his club football in Haiti, for Aigle Noir AC.