Retirement.
1989-90 was last season for Oleg Blokhin, arguably the best ever
player of USSR.
Blokhin
was and is so well known, it seems a few dry facts and statistics are
enough. Oleg
Vladimirovich Blokhin,
or Oleh
Volodymyrovych Blokhin
born 5 November 1952, is a former Ukrainian and Soviet football
player. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all-time,
Blokhin was formerly a standout striker for Dynamo
Kyiv and
the Soviet
Union.[1]
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.Blokhin was born in Kyiv,
the capital of the Ukrainian
SSR.
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.
Dynamo
Kyiv
Soviet
Top League (8): 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986
Soviet
Cup (5): 1974, 1978, 1982, 1984–85, 1986–87
USSR
Super Cup:
(3): 1981, 1986, 1987
UEFA
Cup Winners Cup (2): 1974–75, 1985–86
UEFA
Super Cup: 1975;
Runner-up: 1986
European
Player of the Year 1975
He
also played for two foreign clubs: 1988-89 Vorwärts
Steyr
(Austria) – 41 matches, 9 goals, and
Aris
Limassol (Cyrpus) – 1989-90: 22 matches, 5 goals.
He was among the first group pf Soviet
players going to the West, but his spells were both short and small
clubs at the fringe of European football – not surprising, since
Blokhin was too old already and well beyond his peak years.
Blokhin ended his playing career in
Cyprus and here is a photo from his last season, but he did not
return to crumbling USSR – he was invited by the Greek giant
Olympiakos (Piraeus) to coach them, so hew started his coaching
career right after he stopped playing.
Of course, Blikhin played largely for
Dinamo (Kiev) – 432 games and 211 goals – and is best remembered
with the teams shown above – 1975 and 1986, the teams which won the
Cup Winners Cup . He was the only player from who was in both
squads, which also made the national teams of USSR in both years.
With team USSR he played twice at the
World Cup finals – in 1982 and 1986 – making altogether 112 games
and scoring 42 goals. Records, which will be unmatched for USSR
disappeared. However, he was the only player in USSR to score reach
the 200 mark in scoring and the only player to reach 100 mark in
appearances for the national team.
His talent – if not his club,
because the French evidently thought he was playing for Dinamo
Moscow, at least on this photo – was noticed and recognized as soon
as he joined the national team: still 19 years old, he debuted
against France in 1972. Or so is the one of the stories... for both
club and country debuts of Blokhin are a mystery. Different sources
tell different versions... one is related directly to the French
photo above. Sure, a great talent is noticed early, but... when? And
because of the problem of debuting, again some count 8 USSR titles,
others 7 – the one in 1971 is in or out. Sure, Dinamo Kiev won the
championship, but did it Blokhin? And when exactly he played his
first game for Dinamo? In 1969? Or 1971? And which is his first
appearance for USSR – against the Olympic team of France in 1972 or
about two months later again 1972 against Finland? Let start with the
mysteries, for they are related to his achievements and playing style
as well.
Blokhin's names pops-up here and there
since 1969, but as a bright promising talent – he was included in
Juniors national teams of USSR, but that does not mean he was playing
with first team of Dinamo. But he was part of the B-team since 1969
and what exactly is a B-team in Soviet terms? It was both part of the
A-team and somewhat separate entity, playing in the B-teams
championship running parallel to the A-team league championship and
following the same schedule. Of course, players moved from one side
to another in a single championship, so in general terms both teams
were one, but... before a new seasons begins every club registered
its roster for this season: Blokhin appeared for the first time in
this official roster in 1971 with 0 games and 0 goals. For 1972 he
was listed with 2 games and 0 goals. Dinamo (Kiev) won the 1971
championship and in the traditional introduction of the winning squad
by its captain on the pages of “Football-Hockey' weekly, Blokhin is
not mentioned at all and is not on the team photo. Back to the B-team
then... made of promising youngsters from the club's youth system
plus reserves in the A-team, getting playing time, plus coming from
injuries regulars, not in top form yet, and sometime players at the
end of their careers or recruited specifically to bring experience to
the B-team, but, unlike reserves and those trying to get into form
after injury, this group of players had nothing to do with the
A-team. If the coach of the A-team decided some of the youngsters
played particularly well in the B-team, he would invite him foe a
game or two with the A-team, usually coming out as a substitute. The
first 2 games of Blokhin were clearly of this kind, but was his debut
in 1969 or 1971 is unclear – of course, unknown player popping up
just once may have been forgotten by statisticians and officials,
yet, the first time Blokhin is in the official team roster is 1971
and that with 0 games, 0 goals. And whether he played once or twice
during this season is practically unimportant as far as list of
champions is concerned: the Soviets required 50% appearances in the
season to include a player among the title winners. Thus, even the
official roster of Dinamo (Kiev) was longer in 1971, the team
photographic and narrative presentation of the champions at the end
of the season includes just 15 players, without even a back-up
goalkeeper. To a point, one may argue that the debut of Blokhin was
in 1972 – starting with his pitiful 2 games and 0 goals, he in a
matter of two months became not just a regular, but leading scorer
and national team player.
This is perhaps the first photo of
Blokhin (number 11) in 'Football-Hockey' – scoring a goal against
Karpaty (Lvov) in the 6
th round of the 1972 championship.
At this moment he was leading the scorers list with 4 goals (shared
with 2 other players), eventually ending the season with his first
top-scorer award: he won it 14 goals. But at the time of this photo
the problem with his first appearance for the national team also
came...
1972 was quite a weird year for all
Soviet national teams: the A national team was involved in the last
qualification stages in the European Championship and eventually
reached – and lost – the final. In the same time the
qualifications for the 1972 Summer Olympics were going on. In the
same time the last stages of the newly – and short lived –
Under-23 European championship were in progress. And finally there
was scheduled South American tour of the A team... conflicting
priorities practically lead to huge confusion: in South America went
a club squad – Zarya (Voroshilovgrad – today Lugansk, Ukraine).
Since they played as A team USSR, even obscure reserves, hardly
playing for their club, got national team caps. But in 1972 Zarya
emerged as the strongest team and won the Soviet championship –
their play was recognized, so gradually some of their best players
plus their coach were included in... the Olympic team? Or the
national team? Because of coach and players, there is certain
continuation, even amalgamation of the pointless (as the main
criticism of the South American tour went) tour and later versions of
the 'real' national team. Which was what? Blokhin was regular in the
team, which reached the European Under-23 Championship final (and
lost it to Czechoslovakia).
Here is Blokhin scoring the opening
goal in the first leg of Under-23 European final – the match ended
2-2.
However, the bulk of the Under-23 team
- including Blokhin - played also for the Olympic team: for the
moment, looking like separate from the A-team entity with different
coaching stuff and players. It was this squad which eliminated the
Olympic team of France and qualified to the Olympic games. So... on
May 25 9 players having nothing to do with USSR A-team at the moment
and associated largely with the Under-23 team qualified USSR to the
Olympic finals. This was the game considered by many to be the first
match of Blokhin for USSR. He scored 2 of the Soviet goals. On June
26 the same 9 players – including Blokhin – but under the regular
coach of the Under-23 team, B. Nabokov, played the first leg of the
Under-23 European final. Then came June 18 and USSR lost the European
final 0-3 against West Germany. Entirely different squad, entirely
different coach – none of those playing at the important Olympic
qualification and Under-23 finals was part of it, just like none was
part of the A-team in the ¼ and ½ stages of the European
championship, played in the spring of 1972. A. Ponomarev and N.
Gulyaev coached the A team – but in the last 6 months teams named A
team were coached by other people as well: V. Nikolaev and A.
Paramonov – 6 games, and N. Gulyaev and G. Zonin – 2 games. The
lost European final brought heavy criticism – it was not the result
as such, but the fact team USSR was entirely crushed and looked
hopelessly outdated when confronted by total-football playing West
Germany. The Soviet Federation severely reprimanded all involved in
the lost final and some players were punished with exclusion from all
national teams for 'lack of character', practically playing in
'un-patriotic way'. Strangely, the head coach was not sacked. And now
the Olympics became top priority...
And again... hard to figure out what
is what. On July 16 USSR played a friendly against Finland , which
ended 1-1. Blokhin scored the Soviet goal and this match is
considered his 2nd for USSR. Nominally, it was a game
between the A national teams, but in reality it was more of
preparatory match for the coming Olympics. The Soviet squad was
entirely different from the team qualifying USSR in May against
France to the Olympic finals – only the strikers Blokhin, Gutzaev
and Givi Nodia (both Dinamo Tbilisi) were present against Finland.
Between May and July they also played in the Under-23 European
finals. But 4 players played in the lost final of European
Championship against West Germany. Coach Nabokov was back to Under-23
team, Ponomarev was coaching the Olympic or A team, whatever it was.
This match also came under severe criticism – the boring and
heartless performance (only 2 players apparently played well –
Blokhin was not among them) brought back the team which toured South
America: Zarya (Voroshilovgrad) played there against Argentina,
Uruguay, and Portugal and apparently well enough – but no players
from this squad were used in the 'normal' national team. This was
taken into account in the next friendly against Sweden. The match
ended 4-4, Blokhin came as a substitute and scored the last goal for
USSR in the 20 minutes he played. This time 3 players of Zarya were
included plus coach German Zonin. From the Olympic squad qualifying
USSR in May only Blokhin remained. In the same time the Under-23 team
also played against Sweden and here one can see 4 players from the
Olympic team in May and 5 players from the Under-23 finals. One of
them moved up... for the final selection of the Olympic squad was
made right after the match with Sweden: it included 6 players from
the European final for A national team and only 2 of the Olympic
squad qualifying USSR to the Olimpics – Blokhin and Zanazanyan
(Ararat Erevan). 3 more players were associated with the A national
team, not with the Olympic or Under-23 formations, one came from the
Under-23 team, and 3 players plus coach German Zonin came from Zarya,
which played as team USSR in the South American tour. Now, part of
confusion comes from USSR's – and following their example/order.
The whole of Communist Eastern Europe – use of A national team for
everything. Complains against that were old and the Soviets had to
navigate carefully, which leads to changing names and squads of
country's formations, to which should be added various whims about
prestige as the Soviets thought of damaging or benefiting them. So..
the Olympics were secondary in importance to the European
Championship and in May of 1972 USSR used a team which was later
discarded in whole. Then the Under-23 European finals were priority –
yet, secondary to the European hampionship finals – and what was
an Olympic team just a month ago was now the Under-23 team. The the
European final was lost – and for it the South American tour was
practically voided as something important for the national team and
mere club was sent on it – and the lost final was considered a
disgrace, so entirely new national team was seemingly in order, but
the Olympics was coming and they became priority, so at the end both
A-team friendlies and the squad for the Olympics were practically
based on the A national team which lost the European final with few
additional players – but those who qualified USSR to the Olympic
finals in May were now back in the Under-23 team as nothing happened.
So which was the first match Blokhin played for the national team of
USSR in all that? For if the match against France in May was his
first... no wonder why Russian sources today omit the fact that the
opponent was the Olympic team of France, having nothing to do with
the Frech national team, made of professional players. Dry statistics
give this game as the first match of Blokhin for USSR – but it is
no so for his teammates in this match, most of whom have no record as
national team players. And even more – if the Olympic team at the
moment came to be dumped into the national team records, then... why
the game against France, but not the game played 2 or 3 months
earlier against the Under-23 team of Bulgaria? For some Soviet reason
the Soviets told the Bulgarians that this was their Olympic team –
although virtually the same which played in the Under-23 European
Championship – and that is how it stays in Bulgarian records:
Under-23 Bulgaria vs USSR Olympic. Yes, Blokhin played in this match.
Finally, in the match report the Swedish coach is quoted that his
country, having problems for years with players going abroad, adopted
semi-professional football and had to abandon entirely the Olympic
tournaments for Sweden no longer had eligible players by the amateur
requirements of the Olympic rules. It is clear that the friendly
between Sweden and USSR was oficially between A national team (with
the additional game between their Under-23 teams in the same time) –
but it was the last preparatory game for the Olympics for USSR and
the final team selection for the Olympics was announced after that
match and included the players used in the this match. This
meandering between Under-23, Olympic team and A national team,
confuses tremendously the matter of Blokhin's debut for the national
team of USSR.
Come September 1972 and Blokhin played
at the Olympics – here trying a header in the match against Burma.
Next to him is Yu. Elisseev (Zarya Voroshilovgrad). One more Soviet
bitter disappointment... they lost the Olympics too, eliminated by
Poland. The photo in a way represents the mess of 1972 and to the
very end – the final loss was for Dinamo (Kiev): they finished
behind Zarya (Voroshilvgrad), which won the Soviet title, becoming
the first provincial club to do so – that is, a club not from
republican capital city. Elisseev did not last long in the national
team, but is was his year, not Blokhin's... Still Blokhin made his
name, ended as the championship top scorer, became a regular of both
Dinamo Kiev and the national team and from 1972 will be constant
success and his records – easy to trace and confirm. No matter when
exactly he debuted as a matter of first match played, 1972 was the
year of his debut – and with a bang. After that both the success of
Dinamo (Kiev) and the big revival of the Soviet national team in the
1980s is associated with him. May be not as mythic and legendary as
Lev Yashin, but certainly very close – for almost 20 years his name
was focus of attention. He even adapted well to aging and the brutal
changes of the game in the 1980s.
Hard to pin-point his best year...
maybe 1975. He won the Cup Winners Cup and the European Supercup and
was voted European player of the year. But the 1970s, 1975 included,
were lean years for the national team of USSR. Winning the Cup
Winners Cup for second time in 1986 was maybe more worthy – it was
won against much stronger opponent than the lame Ferencvaros in 1975:
it was a different matter to outplay very strong Atletico Madrid.
Yet, 1975 stays as most successful on club level. As for the national
team... he finally played at World Cup finals in 1982, but USSR,
although catching the eye, was eliminated early. In 1986 Blokhin was
getting old and used largely as substitute. He was not part of the
the teams reaching European finals – in 1972 too young, in 1988 too
old. Even the Olympics were lost – nothing in 1972, 1976, 1980...
Even going to play professionally abroad was kind of lost cause –
in his prime he would have been a great star of a great club, but
then it was impossible for Soviet player to go abroad. Still, he
managed to play as real professional, but nearing 40 and at the end
of his career naturally no big club was interested in him. This he
retired after a season in Cyprus – but his coaching career started
right away and much better: he was instantly hired to coach a leading
Greek club just in the time when Greek football pushed its way the
European football ranks, And he was successful as a coach, but that
is another story.
Oleg Blokhin was classic winger most of
the time – eventually, when he aged, moving back as attacking
midfielder with playmaking skills. Very fast with perfect control of
the ball, sharp shooter and goal-scorer. He was not without
limitations – great on the left wing, he was hardly adequate in the
center of attack and entirely useless on the right wing: this
limitations because strongly evident in 1976, when coach Lobanovsky
wanted to modernize further the play of Dynamo Kiev and wanted his
wingers to change places often, but Blokhin was unable to do it and
instead of surprising attacking waves from both sides, Blokhin and
Onishchenko (who was originally left winger, but because of Blokhin
had to play at the other side) piled up together rather stifling the
attacks. Blokhin was also no use in defense, but when aged was quite
efficient organizer in midfield. Although he was top scorer of the
season many times, his best achievement was 20 goals in one season.
One can't really blame him – it was first of all the nature of
Soviet football, which, somewhat like Italy, aimed at safety and thus
produced enormous number of scoreless ties. Scoring goals was
somewhat secondary even for attacking-minded Dinamo Kiev under
Lobanovsky. The other restriction was Blokhin's position – as a
winger, supplying balls in front of the opposition's net was the
prime aim – what helped in his case was that for Dinamo Kiev very
rarely played with typical centre-forward, so other people had to
score instead – Dinamo had plenty of good scorers, but they all
were midfielders, so Blokhin had more chances from start and with
time the rest of the team created scoring opportunities for him.
Still, it was his long spanning career which made him the Soviet
record-maker – he was blessed to have relatively few long-lasting
injuries, he was consistently in good shape and form. Finally, he had
few competitors – other came and went, either by inconsistency or
lack of ambition, of plain misfortune. Blokhin was always ready, very
dependable. But eventually everything comes to end.
It was rather disappointing ending...
here is Blokhin in his last season with Aris (Limassol), posing with
teammates Zoran Samardzija and David Kenny. A photo more valuable for
those practically anonymous players having the chance to share the
field with world-famous star. Alas, a very old star...
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