b. 1952
Oleh Blokhin
Dynamo Kyiv striker, Ballon d'Or 1975
211 goals in the Soviet league, a Soviet football record. Oleh Blokhin, Dynamo Kyiv’s striker, became the first Soviet footballer to win the Ballon d'Or in 1975, and as a coach he took Ukraine to its first World Cup.
Key accomplishments
- Ballon d'Or 1975 as Europe's best footballer
- Cup Winners' Cup (1975, 1986) and UEFA Super Cup (1975) with Dynamo Kyiv; seven Soviet league titles
- Soviet league record holder: 432 matches and 211 goals; the USSR national team's record holder for appearances and goals
- Olympic bronze in 1972 and 1976 and European Championship silver in 1988 with the USSR
- Head coach of Ukraine (2003–2007): the country's first World Cup (2006) and a quarterfinal
211
That is how many goals Oleh Blokhin scored in 432 Soviet league matches, a Soviet football record. He also played and scored more than anyone else for the USSR national team.
Dynamo’s left wing
Blokhin was born in Kyiv in 1952 and came through the Dynamo football school. In November 1969, aged 17, he made his first-team debut for the club he would then represent for almost twenty years. The team was run by Valerii Lobanovskyi and Oleh Bazylevych, and Blokhin’s trademark became his high-speed runs down the left wing.
In 1975 Dynamo won the Cup Winners’ Cup and then the UEFA Super Cup, beating Bayern Munich twice; Blokhin scored three goals against them. That same year he became the first Soviet footballer to receive the Ballon d’Or as Europe’s best player. In 1986 the club won the Cup Winners’ Cup a second time. With Dynamo Blokhin was Soviet champion seven times and won the Soviet Cup five times, and with the USSR he won Olympic bronze in 1972 and 1976 and silver at the 1988 European Championship. He finished his playing career in Austria and Cyprus.
The coach of the first World Cup
In 1990–2002 Blokhin coached Greek clubs, among them Olympiacos, with whom he won the Greek Cup (1992). In 2003 he took charge of Ukraine, and in 2006 the team played at a World Cup for the first time, in Germany, reaching the quarterfinals. That team included Andriy Shevchenko, the 2004 Ballon d’Or winner. Blokhin later coached the national team a second time (2011–2012) and then Dynamo Kyiv (2012–2014).
In 1998–2006 he was a member of the Verkhovna Rada for two terms: in 1998 he was elected on the Hromada list, then sat in the Batkivshchyna and Communist Party factions; in 2002 he was elected on the Communist Party list, and a few months later he moved to the faction of the Social Democratic Party (united).
Why it matters today
Blokhin was the first Soviet winner of the Ballon d’Or and set records that no one in Soviet football ever surpassed. As a coach he led the team of independent Ukraine to its first World Cup.
