Blokhin rolls back the years

By Igor Linnyk

In a day laden with nostalgia Oleh Blokhin, the European Footballer of the Year in 1975, has marked his 50th birthday at the Olympiyskiy stadium in Kyiv with a game between some of the world's most famous veteran players.

Youngster treads in footsteps
The match, which featured stars of the 1970s and 1980s, pitted Soviet Union veterans against a side representing the Rest of the World. Blokhin played a half for each team and the last goal in an entertaining 4-4 draw was scored, appropriately enough, by Pavel Klimenko, a ten-year-old student of FC Dynamo Kyiv's football academy - the same place where the great Blokhin started his own career so many years ago.

Belanov on show
The 1986 European Footballer of the Year, Ihor Belanov, also made an appearance for the Soviet Union side, as did current FC Vorskla Poltava coach and former Soviet great Andriy Bal. Olexander Zavarov, Rinat Dasayev, Khoren Oganesyan also featured alongside current Ukraine coach Leonid Buryak and Georgia coach Alexandr Chivadze.

Mykhaylichenko impresses
However it was the performance of current Dynamo coach Olexiy Mykhaylichenko, who was in the same team with Blokhin that won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1986, that really caught the eye. Mykhaylichenko got on the scoresheet twice for the Soviet Union side with Oleh Protasov and Klimenko hitting the other two.

Blokhin on target
Meanwhile, Frenchmen Dominic Rocheteau and Joseph Touré as well as former Greek international Dimitrios Saravakas and Blokhin himself with a penalty scored for the Rest of the World side which also included names such as Manuel Amoros, Didier Six, Joseph-Antoine Bell, Manfred Kaltz, Willy van der Kerkhof and Tanju Cholak.

'Real stars always shine'
"I think evenings like this make us better," Blokhin said after the game, for which all gate receipts will go to charity. "I just want to thank all those who helped me organise this, and those who played. While the rain did not allow us to get the 80,000 stadium full, we still saw that real stars always shine."

Illustrious career
Blokhin is currently a member of the Ukrainian parliament representing the Communist party with a special interest in sports law and its social implications. During his illustrious sporting career, he hit an all-time record 211 goals in 432 Soviet championship games, winning seven titles with Dynamo as well as five Soviet Cups and two Cup Winners' Cups. He also helped Dynamo win the UEFA Super Cup in 1975 and scored 42 times in 112 games for the Soviet Union.