Oleg Blokhin

Oleg Vladimirovich Blokhin, or Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin (Template:Langx, Template:Langx; born 5 November 1952), is a Ukrainian former football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of his generation, Blokhin was a standout striker for Dynamo Kyiv and the Soviet Union.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He holds the all-time top goalscorer record for both Dynamo Kiev (266 goals) and the Soviet Union national team (42 goals), as well as being the overall top goalscorer in the history of the Soviet Top League (211 goals). He is also the only player to have been capped over 100 times for the Soviet Union and holds Dynamo's appearance record with 582 appearances during his 18-year spell at the club. With Dynamo, Blokhin won eight Soviet league titles, five national cups and two European Cup Winners' Cups. He also competed for the Soviet Union at the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games and 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups. During his playing career he won the Soviet Footballer of the Year award three times and the Ukrainian Footballer of the Year award nine times (both records). In 1975, he was named European Footballer of the Year, winning the Ballon d'Or, becoming the second Soviet and the first Ukrainian player to achieve such a feat.

As a coach, he has had two spells in charge of the Ukraine national team, managing the team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012.

In 2011, Blokhin, together with Igor Belanov and Vitaliy Starukhin were named as "the legends of Ukrainian football" at the Victory of Football awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Blokhin was born in Kyiv, the capital of the Ukrainian SSR, in 1952. His mother Kateryna Adamenko was multiple champion of USSR in the pentathlon, sprint and long jump. He was born to a Russian father and Ukrainian mother. His father Vladimir Blokhin was a police officer, a World War II veteran, and a competitive sprinter. Owing to his parents, Blokhin quickly mastered sprint, and by the age of 16 ran 60 m in less than 7 seconds, and 100 m in 11.0 seconds.<ref>Блохин и Беланов – главные спринтеры в истории футбола. Пиковый Блохин считался опаснее Кройффа и стоил как Марадона Template:Webarchive. sports.ru. 27 April 2008</ref>

Playing career

Blokhin was one of the greatest players in the world throughout the 1970s, hitting the target regularly through a period of great success at his hometown club Dynamo Kyiv and becoming the greatest goalscorer in the history of the Soviet League, which was one of Europe's strongest. Normally a forward or winger, Blokhin was most renowned for possessing exceptional pace.

Blokhin played during most of his career for Dynamo Kyiv, becoming the USSR national championship's all-time leader and goalscorer with 211 goals, as well as making more appearances than any other player with 432 appearances. He won the championship 8 times. He led Dynamo to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1975 and 1986, scoring a goal in each final. Blokhin is also the USSR national football team's most capped player with 112 caps, as well as their all-time leading goalscorer with 42 goals; he played in the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups where he scored one goal in each. He was one of the first Soviet players to play abroad, signing for Austria's Vorwärts Steyr in 1988, he also played in Cyprus with Aris.

In 1979 Blokhin played a couple of games for Ukraine at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Blokhin coached Greek clubs Olympiacos (Under him they won the Greek Cup and the Greek Super Cup in 1992), PAOK, AEK Athens, and Ionikos.

He began serving as the head coach of the Ukraine national team in September 2003.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Under his leadership, Ukraine qualified for a major tournament for the first time as an independent nation, reaching the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Ukraine reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, losing to eventual champions Italy. Following the side's failure to reach UEFA Euro 2008, Blokhin stepped down as coach on 6 December 2007.<ref>Soccer-Blokhin quits as Ukraine coach by Mikhail Volobuyev, Gennady Fyodorov and Ken Ferris, Reuters, 6 December 2007</ref>

On 14 December 2007, he was named head coach of FC Moscow.<ref>FK Moscow hire former Ukraine manager Blokhin Template:Webarchive ESPNsoccernet 14 December 2007</ref> The club finished 9th (from 16) and after the season ended Blokhin was fired from the club.<ref>Блохин освобожден от обязанностей главного тренера "Москвы" Template:Webarchive. Sports.ru. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2011.</ref> At the end of the season, Blokhin announced that if he knew how things would go in FC Moscow, he would have never signed there. This was because the club released many important players without Blokhin's permission yet still had many high expectations.<ref>Олег Блохин: "Если бы знал, как будут делаться дела в команде, то весной бы не пришел в "Москву" Template:Webarchive. Sports.ru. 16 November 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2011.</ref> Others said that the reason Blokhin failed in FC Moscow was that he and the press didn't have a friendly relationship, and because of that the press was constantly attacking Blokhin and that damaged his status among the players.<ref>Геннадий Литовченко: "Говорил Блохину, что его будут травить" Template:Webarchive. Sports.ru. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2011.</ref>

On 21 April 2011, Blokhin was again appointed head coach of the Ukraine national team.<ref>Ukraine appoint Blokhin Template:Webarchive, Sky Sports (21 April 2011)</ref><ref>Oleg Blokhin appointed Ukraine coach, Reuters (21 April 2011)</ref> He led the team in UEFA Euro 2012 on home soil, beating Sweden but exiting at the group stage after defeats to France and England.

Blokhin in 2012

On 25 September 2012, Dynamo Kyiv signed Blokhin to lead the club for the next four years.<ref name=BBBIU17414/> His final matches in charge of Ukraine were World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Montenegro in October 2012.<ref name=BtillOCNToU>Dynamo Kyiv signs Blokhin as coach for 4 years Template:Webarchive, Sports Illustrated (25 September 2012)</ref> Blokhin was dismissed as Dynamo's manager by the club's President Ihor Surkis on 17 April 2014 because of the "unsatisfactory results of the team".<ref name=BBBIU17414>Dynamo president sacks Blokhin for poor performance, Interfax-Ukraine (17 April 2014)</ref> The day before, in a press conference after Dynamo had lost a match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Blokhin had already stated that he had decided to resign.<ref name=BBBIU17414/> Under his leadership Dynamo never qualified (a rare occasion for the club) for the UEFA Champions League and performed poorly in the UEFA Europa League.<ref name=BBBIU17414/> In his first year his team finished third in the Ukrainian Premier League and in his second year (when he was fired) Dynamo was seven points behind Ukrainian Premier League leaders Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Shakhtar Donetsk.<ref name=BBBIU17414/>

Politics

In 1998 Blokhin was elected to Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) for Hromada.<ref name=DenCommi>Oleh Blokhin: "I have scored all of my goals" Template:Webarchive, Den (1998)</ref> He joined Hromada while still being a member of the Communist Party of Ukraine.<ref name=DenCommi/> In 2002, Blokhin was elected to Verkhovna Rada for a second term. In October 2002, he joined the United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine.

Family

Blokhin's father, Volodymyr Blokhin, is a native of Moscow, a veteran of the World War II, survivor of the Leningrad blockade, and a former Soviet law enforcement agent. He later worked as a sports functionary for the Soviet Dynamo Society. Blokhin's mother Kateryna Adamenko is from Nebrat village in Borodianka Raion, Kyiv Oblast. She originally worked at a Kyiv sewing factory, but eventually discovered hidden athletic talents and became the Soviet champion in track and field as well as pentathlon. After retiring from sports, she became a staff member at one of Kyiv's universities.

Blokhin was married to Irina Deriugina, a top coach and former world champion in rhythmic gymnastics, but the couple divorced in the early 1990s. Blokhin and Deriugina have a daughter, singer Iryna Blokhina, who wrote and performed the Euro 2012 anthem.<ref>Донька Блохіна заспіває гімн "Євро-2012" (The daughter of Blokhin will sing the Euro 2012 anthem) Template:Webarchive with photo. TabloID. 11 November 2011</ref>

Blokhin and his second wife, Angela, have two daughters, Hanna (born 2001) and Katerina (born 2002).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Super Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Dynamo Kyiv	1969	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	1970	—		1	0	—		—		1	0
	1971	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	1972	27	14	2	0	6	1	—		35	15
	1973	29	18	8	4	5	1	—		42	23
	1974	29	20	4	3	9	5	—		42	28
	1975	28	18	—		8	5	—		36	23
	1976	19	8	1	0	8	2	—		28	10
	1977	29	17	3	2	2	0	1	0	35	19
	1978	26	13	8	4	4	0	—		38	17
	1979	24	17	6	1	4	1	—		34	19
	1980	33	19	7	3	2	0	—		42	22
	1981	29	19	7	3	6	1	1	0	43	23
	1982	24	10	3	0	4	0	—		31	10
	1983	31	10	1	0	2	0	—		34	10
	1984	30	10	6	2	—		—		36	12
	1985	29	12	2	1	9	5	—		40	18
	1986	23	2	5	5	8	5	1	0	37	12
	1987	20	4	3	1	2	0	1	0	26	5
	Total	432	211	67	29	79	26	4	0	582	266
SK Vorwärts Steyr	1987–88	13	5	—		—		—		13	5
	1988–89	28	4	1	1	—		—		29	5
	Total	41	9	1	1	—		—		42	10
Aris Limassol	1989–90	22	5	6	2	—		—		28	7
Career total		495	225	74	32	79	26	4	0	652	283

• The statistics in USSR Cups and Europe is made under the scheme "autumn-spring" and enlisted in a year of start of tournaments

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref>Template:NFT player</ref>

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Soviet Union	1972	9	8
	1973	10	1
	1974	3	0
	1975	7	2
	1976	12	4
	1977	10	4
	1978	10	6
	1979	5	1
	1980	2	1
	1981	6	5
	1982	9	2
	1983	9	5
	1984	3	1
	1985	4	0
	1986	11	2
	1987	1	0
	1988	1	0
Total		112	42

Scores and results list the Soviet Union's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Blokhin goal.

List of international goals scored by Oleg Blokhin

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	Template:Dts	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	Friendly
2	Template:Dts	Råsunda Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden	Template:Fb	4–3	4–4	Friendly
3	1972-09-01	Jahnstadion, Regensburg, West Germany	Template:Fb	1–0	4–1	1972 Olympics
4				2–0
5				3–0
6	Template:Dts	Rosenaustadion, Augsburg, West Germany	Template:Fb	1–0	1–2	1972 Olympics
7	Template:Dts	Rosenaustadion, Augsburg, West Germany	Template:Fb	3–0	4–0	1972 Olympics
8	Template:Dts	Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany	Template:Fb	1–0	2–2	1972 Olympics
9	Template:Dts	Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	1972 FIFA World Cup qualification
10	Template:Dts	Kyiv Central Stadium, Kyiv, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 1976 qualification
11	Template:Dts	Kyiv Central Stadium, Kyiv, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 1976 qualification
12	Template:Dts	Všešportový areál, Košice, Czechoslovakia	Template:Fb	1–0	2–2	Friendly
13	Template:Dts	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Template:Fb	3–0	3–0	Friendly
14	Template:Dts	Kyiv Central Stadium, Kyiv	Template:Fb	2–2	2–2	UEFA Euro 1976 qualification
15	Template:Dts	Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, Canada	Template:Fb	3–0	3–0	1976 Olympics
16	1977-03-23	JNA Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Template:Fb	1–0	4–2	Friendly
17				3–1
18	1977-09-07	Central Stadium, Volgograd, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	3–1	4–1	Friendly
19				4–1
20	Template:Dts	Stade El Harti, Marrakech, Morocco	Template:Fb	1–1	3–2	Friendly
21	1978-04-05	Hrazdan Stadium, Yerevan, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	4–0	10–2	Friendly
22				6–0
23				9–1
24	Template:Dts	Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	Friendly
25	Template:Dts	Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey	Template:Fb	2–0	2–0	Friendly
26	Template:Dts	Lokomotiv Stadium, Simferopol, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	1–0	3–1	Friendly
27	Template:Dts	Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary	Template:Fb	1–1	4–1	Friendly
28	Template:Dts	Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow	Template:Fb	3–0	4–0	1982 FIFA World Cup qualification
29	1981-10-07	İzmir Atatürk Stadium, İzmir, Turkey	Template:Fb	2–0	3–0	1982 World Cup qualification
30				3–0
31	Template:Dts	Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	2–0	3–0	1982 World Cup qualification
32	Template:Dts	Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	1982 World Cup qualification
33	Template:Dts	Råsunda Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	Friendly
34	Template:Dts	Estadio La Rosaleda, Málaga, Spain	Template:Fb	2–0	3–0	1982 FIFA World Cup
35	Template:Dts	Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	Friendly
36	Template:Dts	Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria	Template:Fb	2–1	2–2	Friendly
37	Template:Dts	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 1984 qualification
38	Template:Dts	Zentralstadion, Leipzig, East Germany	Template:Fb	1–0	3–1	Friendly
39	Template:Dts	Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1984 qualification
40	Template:Dts	Kirov Stadium, Leningrad, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	3–0	3–0	Friendly
41	Template:Dts	Estadio Sergio León Chavez, Irapuato, Mexico	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	1986 FIFA World Cup
42	Template:Dts	Lokomotiv Stadium, Simferopol, Soviet Union	Template:Fb	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualification

Managerial statistics

Team	From	To	Record					Achievement
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Olympiacos	06/1990	01/1993	League runner-up in 1991, 1992, Cup holder in 1992
PAOK	1993	1994
Ionikos	12/1994	02/1997
PAOK	1998	1998
AEK Athens	11/1998	05/1999
Ionikos	03/2000	01/2002	Cup finalist in 2000
Ukraine	01/2003	12/2007	Won qual.group for 2006, Reached 2006 World Cup quarter-finals
Moscow	12/2007	11/2008
Ukraine	04/2011	2012	Eliminated at group stage of Euro 2012
Dynamo Kyiv	09/2012	03/2014
Total	06/1990	03/2014

Honours

Dynamo Kyiv

• Soviet Top League (8): 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986
• Soviet Cup: 1974, 1978, 1982, 1984–85, 1986–87
• USSR Super Cup: 1981, 1986, 1987
• UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1974–75, 1985–86
• UEFA Super Cup: 1975; Runner-up: 1986

Individual

Blokhin's Golden Foot, awarded in 2009

• Merited Master of Sports (1975)
• Merited Coach of Ukraine (2005)
• Ballon d'Or: 1975
• Guerin Sportivo All-Star Team: 1981<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• ADN Eastern European Footballer of the Season: 1975, 1977, 1981<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Sport Ideal European XI: 1975<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Eric Batty's World XI: 1976<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Golden Foot: 2009, as a legend<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Soviet Footballer of the Year: 1973, 1974, 1975
• Ukrainian Footballer of the Year (9): 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981
• Soviet Top League top scorer: 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977
• Soviet Top League All-Time Goals and Appearances Leader
• Soviet Cup All-Time Goals
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1985–86 top scorer<ref>Cup Winners Cup Topscorers Template:Webarchive. Rsssf.com (18 December 2003). Retrieved 2 January 2011.</ref>
• European Cup 1986–87 second place on top scorers list.<ref>European Champions' Cup 1986–87 – Details Template:Webarchive. Rsssf.com (17 January 2008). Retrieved 2 January 2011.</ref>
• USSR national football team All-Time Goals and Caps Leader
• Ukraine's Golden Player representative<ref>[1] Template:Webarchive</ref>
• UEFA Jubilee Poll (2004): #80<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The best 33 football players of the Soviet Union (15): No. 1 (1972–1982, 1985, 1986), No. 2 (1983, 1984)
• Club Loyalty Award: 1986
• IFFHS Legends<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Placar's 100 Stars of the World Cup: #90<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Planète Foot's 50 Best Players of all Time<ref name="rsssf.org">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Voetbal International's World Stars by Raf Willems<ref name="rsssf.org"/>

Ballon d'Or

• 1974 – 19th
• 1975 – 1st
• 1976 – 19th
• 1981 – 5th

See also

• List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
• List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
• Oleh Blokhin club

External links

• Template:Cite web
• Template:FootballFacts.ru
• Template:FIFA