World Cup '74 Portrait Collection: Squad #9 (Holland)

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 #238 (Gerd Muller: West Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #229 (Rinus Israel: Holland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The most recently-processed drawing in the Project is a re-mediation of an image of the magnificently bespectacled Rinus Israël, who was represented in such guise in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ sticker album, & selected for inclusion in the official Holland squad for the Finals. He appeared 3 times during the tournament, as a half-time substitute in the First Round victory over Bulgaria & subsequently as a late replacement, with the matches effectively won (at 3 – 0 & 2 – 0 respectively), in the Second Round triumphs against Argentina & then Brazil.

As might be expected in these parts, it proved impossible during the course of drawing not to have Siouxsie and the Banshees’ song ‘Israel’ running through one’s head, the second very specific correspondence of music & art over the duration of the project (the first being mentioned here, in connection not with the recent but the original drawing of Hector Yazalde, as fancifully referenced by Morrissey, who, of course, duetted with Siouxsie Sioux – very interesting, even though it’s near-impossible to countenance both of those artists being influenced in some way by the 1974 World Cup. However, in the world of TOoT, anything is possible!).

Also, at another tangent, that name has had us thinking of other footballers who share their surnames with that of a nation, so far coming up with but a few in the form of Mike England, Alan Brazil, Stephen Ireland &, perhaps most appropriately in relation to Rinus Israël, Pat & Matt Holland, whilst, pushing the boundaries admittedly, the mighty Graham French, once a featured visitor to this parish, has also been recollected. Any others?

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 #221 (Roberto Perfumo: Argentina)

Today the opposite of tomato is 'the texture of gas'

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Continuing the Project with a representation of Roberto Perfumo, who was featured in the Panini ’München 74’ sticker album, which image provides our original source material for this drawing (& also a previous version), & selected for inclusion in Argentina squad for the Finals, not merely as a member but as its captain, subsequently playing in the Argentinians’ first four fixtures before being omitted following the opening Second Round drubbing (0 – 4) by Holland.

World Cup '74 Portrait #215 (Johan Cruyff: Holland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

And so the year draws to a close with not just an appalling pun but also a re-mediation of an image of Johan Cruyff, who was represented in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 sticker albums, & is one of the few names remembered from my experience of the television coverage of the 1974 World Cup, enhancing his star status as he led Holland all the way to the final of the tournament (repetition obvious aids memory): the goal he scored, that airborne sidefoot volley, to conclude the Dutch team’s 2 – 0 victory over Brazil in their effective semi-final, has become one of those iconic ones, but I also recall his argument with the referee Jack Taylor, & consequent booking for doing so, as the teams left the pitch at half-time in the final.

World Cup '74 Portrait #210 (Ally Hunter: Scotland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

This most recent drawing to be completed in the Project features a re-mediation of an image of Ally Hunter, who was represented in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 commemorative sticker albums (the former providing our original source material in this instance) yet not subsequently selected for the official Scotland squad for the tournament.

Although not featuring at the World Cup, Ally Hunter’s is a name with which I became familiar soon after, as I recall him being a Scottish football columnist in ‘Shoot!’, which I began reading on a weekly basis soon into the following 1974-75 season (alternating with John Greig, who was his ‘Old Firm’ counterpart).

Research reveals that Hunter played only four matches for Scotland, all prior to 1974, & also that, in common with the Holland squad, as remarked upon previously, the Scottish World Cup selection’s 3 goalkeepers were quite astonishingly inexperienced at international level, having gained only 9 caps between them, & David Harvey, the number one, had earned 7 of those.

World Cup '74 Portrait #204 (Gerrie Muhren: Holland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest drawing in the Project is a representation of an image of Gerrie Muhren, who was selected for inclusion in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 collections, but not the official Holland squad for the Finals, thus being another of the particular ‘ghosts’ of the project, present, & hauntologically preserved to memory, via such items of memorabilia as the sticker albums.

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 #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 #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 #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 #180 (Johan Neeskens: Holland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Continuing the this week daily progress of the Project with a ‘re-mediated’ drawing of Johan Neeskens, as represented in sticker form in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’  album (the player was also featured in the Panini ’München 74’ collection).

Subsequently selected for inclusion in the official Holland squad for the Finals, given the central role Neeskens played in his country’s progress through the 1974 World Cup, playing in all of their matches & scoring 5 goals, including one in the effective ‘semi-final’ win over Brazil & the second-minute penalty that gave the Dutch the lead over West Germany in the Final, it seems inevitable that his name would have become one of the relative few to have registered during a novice’s exposure to the televised coverage of the tournament, as indeed it did, memorably so.

World Cup '74 Portrait #170 (Carlos Babington: Argentina)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

The latest subject in the Project is a depiction of Carlos Babington of Argentina, the second of what should eventually be four ‘cheats’ over the course of the project – essentially names particularly remembered from experience of the televised coverage of the 1974 World Cup but who appeared in neither the FKS or Panini sticker albums previewing/commemorating the event, in which context they become, in fact, the most ‘ghostly’ of all, having no physical presence in the form of image or text, leaving (or being afforded, through omission) no trace of their participation via such enduring artefacts of memorabilia.

This being the case, an original image must be sourced from elsewhere in order to construct a ‘sticker’ from which to work, with the internet providing as usual in such times of need – something of a slightly unsatisfactory fudge, given the physical nature of all the other original source material, the hauntological objects of the stickers, but in such an instance it seems more important to leave a drawn trace of a remembered name than include an ‘unknown’ in its stead.

The name of Carlos Babington might well have proved memorable particularly for its invertedly-exotic Englishness in an Argentinian context, but the records show he enjoyed something of a profile during the World Cup, playing in 5 of Argentina’s 6 matches (missing only the first of their second phase fixtures, the 0 – 4 hammering by Holland), scoring in the first, the 2 – 3 defeat to Poland, & being booked in this & the subsequent two games.

World Cup '74 Portrait #162 (Wim Van Hanegem: Holland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

After another of those later-week drawing lulls, we’re able to get the weekend going with the latest subject in the project as it continues, representing here an image of Wim Van Hanegem, who was selected for inclusion in both the FKS & Panini World Cup ’74 sticker albums, & subsequently the official Holland squad for the tournament, in which he went on to play in all 7 of the Dutch team’s matches on the way to their losing appearance in the Final itself, & is a name remembered from the television coverage of the tournament, one of the handful that registered at the time.

By one of those wonderful occurrences of serendipity, this very morning, before embarking on today’s drawing process, a long-required copy of the 26^th October 1974 edition of Shoot! magazine arrived at TOoT Towers, having been tracked down at last, including the must-have-for-the-archives ‘Results’ section featuring the first mentions of a number of our enduringly-favourite European clubs as they’d been drawn against British teams in the first rounds of the 3 continental competitions, those names that had so stirred the blood & romantic tendencies (Strømsgodset, RWDM, Ajax & Ferencváros), & also carrying an interview with the very same Wim Van Hanegem, most interestingly speaking his mind about a number of footballing matters, not least the ’74 World Cup & its Final match & the domestic Dutch rivalry between Ajax & Feyenoord, then in what was probably an unremarkable manner but now reads shockingly forthright in a PR-driven age when footballer-drones say nothing that could be considered anything other than anodyne, utterly content-less & opinion-free in nature as it is (although the managers might have a post-match grumble-in-the-moment, which isn’t the same thing as a considered critique anyway).

In a further coincidence, the ‘Focus On’ feature in this particular Shoot! has as its subject Eric Morecambe (whose football connection was his then-presidency of Luton Town), with suitably light-hearted responses to the usual series of questions, also half the subject of the stage production ‘Eric & Little Ern’ which, with rather a great deal of anticipation, A & I are off to see this very evening.

(P.S. it was a wonderful, highly enjoyable show, spot-on performances & a fitting tribute)

World Cup '74 Portrait #141 (Arie Haan: Holland)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

World Cup '74 Portrait #108 (Juan Masnik: Uruguay)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s randomly-chosen subject is Juan Masnik, who was represented in both the FKS & Panini ‘World Cup ‘74’ sticker albums, & selected for inclusion in the Uruguay squad for the tournament, during which he subsequently appeared in all three of his country’s matches, captaining the team against Holland then coming on as a substitute against Bulgaria (after 73 minutes) & Sweden (immediately following half-time).

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]

World Cup '74 Portrait #102 (Joachim Streich: East Germany)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s randomly-chosen man-of-the-moment is a depiction of Joachim Streich, of the much-missed East Germany, who was represented in sticker form in both the FKS & Panini ‘World Cup 1974’ collectors’ albums that form the visual basis of this drawing project.

A memorable name from the televised coverage of the Finals, Streich played in four of the East Germans’ six matches during the tournament - missing the historic first-ever meeting with (& glorious 1 – 0 victory over) West Germany & the Second Round defeat to Holland - & scored twice, in their first & last fixtures, against Australia & Argentina.

An anecdotal reference to Streich’s club career can be found here, from earlier this year, amongst the football club badge collection.