Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin () or Oleg Vladimirovich Blokhin (; 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.
He holds the all-time top goalscorer record for both Dynamo Kyiv (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.
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.Блохин и Беланов – главные спринтеры в истории футбола. Пиковый Блохин считался опаснее Кройффа и стоил как Марадона . sports.ru. 27 April 2008
Playing career Blokhin played for Dynamo Kyiv during the 1970s. He became the highest goalscorer in the Soviet League. Typically a forward or winger, Blokhin was noted for his 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.
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. 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. by Mikhail Volobuyev, Gennady Fyodorov and Ken Ferris, Reuters, 6 December 2007
On 14 December 2007, he was named head coach of FC Moscow.FK Moscow hire former Ukraine manager Blokhin ESPNsoccernet 14 December 2007 The club finished 9th (from 16) and after the season ended Blokhin was fired from the club.Блохин освобожден от обязанностей главного тренера "Москвы" . Sports.ru. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2011. 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.Олег Блохин: "Если бы знал, как будут делаться дела в команде, то весной бы не пришел в "Москву" . Sports.ru. 16 November 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2011. 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.Геннадий Литовченко: "Говорил Блохину, что его будут травить" . Sports.ru. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
On 21 April 2011, Blokhin was again appointed head coach of the Ukraine national team.Ukraine appoint Blokhin , Sky Sports (21 April 2011)Oleg Blokhin appointed Ukraine coach, Reuters (21 April 2011) 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.
On 25 September 2012, Dynamo Kyiv signed Blokhin to lead the club for the next four years. His final matches in charge of Ukraine were World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Montenegro in October 2012.Dynamo Kyiv signs Blokhin as coach for 4 years , Sports Illustrated (25 September 2012) 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".Dynamo president sacks Blokhin for poor performance , Interfax-Ukraine (17 April 2014) 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. 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. 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.
Politics In 1998 Blokhin was elected to Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) for Hromada.Oleh Blokhin: "I have scored all of my goals" , Den (1998) He joined Hromada while still being a member of the Communist Party of Ukraine. In March 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, Vladimir 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 (militsiya). He later worked as a sports functionary for the republican Dynamo Society, which is related to law enforcement and the state security forces. 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.Донька Блохіна заспіває гімн "Євро-2012" (The daughter of Blokhin will sing the Euro 2012 anthem) with photo. TabloID. 11 November 2011
Blokhin and his second wife, Angela, have two daughters, Hanna (born 2001) and Katerina (born 2002).
Career statistics
Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupEuropeSuper CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsDynamo Kyiv196910———101970—10——10197110———10197227142061—3515197329188451—4223197429204395—422819752818—85—362319761981082—2810197729173220103519197826138440—3817197924176141—3419198033197320—4222198129197361104323198224103040—3110198331101020—34101984301062——3612198529122195—4018198623255851037121987204312010265Total4322116729792640582266SK Vorwärts Steyr1987–88135———1351988–8928411——295Total41911——4210Aris Limassol1989–9022562——287Career total4952257432792640652283 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 yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSoviet Union19729819731011974301975721976124197710419781061979511980211981651982921983951984311985401986112198710198810Total11242
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 BlokhinNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland 1–0 1–1 Friendly2 Råsunda Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden 4–3 4–4 Friendly31972-09-01 Jahnstadion, Regensburg, West Germany 1–0 4–1 1972 Olympics42–053–06 Rosenaustadion, Augsburg, West Germany 1–0 1–2 1972 Olympics7 Rosenaustadion, Augsburg, West Germany 3–0 4–0 1972 Olympics8 Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany 1–0 2–2 1972 Olympics9 Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union 1–0 2–0 1972 FIFA World Cup qualification10 Kyiv Central Stadium, Kyiv, Soviet Union 3–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1976 qualification11 Kyiv Central Stadium, Kyiv, Soviet Union 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 1976 qualification12 Všešportový areál, Košice, Czechoslovakia 1–0 2–2 Friendly13 Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria 3–0 3–0 Friendly14 Kyiv Central Stadium, Kyiv 2–2 2–2 UEFA Euro 1976 qualification15 Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, Canada 3–0 3–0 1976 Olympics161977-03-23 JNA Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia 1–0 4–2 Friendly173–1181977-09-07 Central Stadium, Volgograd, Soviet Union 3–1 4–1 Friendly194–120 Stade El Harti, Marrakesh, Morocco 1–1 3–2 Friendly211978-04-05 Hrazdan Stadium, Yerevan, Soviet Union 4–0 10–2 Friendly226–0239–124 Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania 1–0 1–0 Friendly25 Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey 2–0 2–0 Friendly26 Lokomotiv Stadium, Simferopol, Soviet Union 1–0 3–1 Friendly27 Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary 1–1 4–1 Friendly28 Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow 3–0 4–0 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification291981-10-07 İzmir Atatürk Stadium, İzmir, Turkey 2–0 3–0 1982 World Cup qualification303–031 Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi, Soviet Union 2–0 3–0 1982 World Cup qualification32 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia 1–0 1–1 1982 World Cup qualification33 Råsunda Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden 1–0 1–1 Friendly34 Estadio La Rosaleda, Málaga, Spain 2–0 3–0 1982 FIFA World Cup35 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland 1–0 1–0 Friendly36 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria 2–1 2–2 Friendly37 Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 1984 qualification38 Zentralstadion, Leipzig, East Germany 1–0 3–1 Friendly39 Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 1984 qualification40 Kirov Stadium, Leningrad, Soviet Union 3–0 3–0 Friendly41 Estadio Sergio León Chavez, Irapuato, Mexico 1–0 2–0 1986 FIFA World Cup42 Lokomotiv Stadium, Simferopol, Soviet Union 3–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1988 qualification
Managerial statistics
TeamFromToRecordAchievementGWDLWin %Olympiacos06/199001/1993League runner-up in 1991, 1992, Cup holder in 1992PAOK19931994Ionikos12/199402/1997PAOK19981998AEK Athens11/199805/1999Ionikos03/200001/2002Cup finalist in 2000Ukraine01/200312/2007Won qual.group for 2006, Reached 2006 World Cup quarter-finalsMoscow12/200711/2008Ukraine04/20112012Eliminated at group stage of Euro 2012Dynamo Kyiv09/201203/2014Total06/199003/2014
Honours Dynamo Kyiv Soviet Top League (8): 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986