On November 5, the 1975 Ballon d\'Or winner Oleg Blokhin celebrates his 72nd birthday.
Throughout the day, the former forward and head coach of Kyiv’s Dynamo and the national team of Ukraine received numerous congratulations from many colleagues and former teammates. One of them came from another Ballon d\'Or winner Igor Belanov, who received this honorary award in 1986.
— We played together in the Kyiv club for three seasons—from 1985 to 1987, after which Oleg moved to the Austrian Forward from Steyr,— recalls Igor Belanov. — When I came to Dynamo from Chornomorets, Blokhin was a mature, authoritative footballer, one of the veterans of the Lobanovsky team.
— At that time, in many teams, older teammates took mentorship over younger newcomers. Was this the case with you?
— No, nobody took mentorship over anyone in Dynamo at that time. After all, everyone was an independent and original footballer, each with their character. How else could it be? So no one ran after anyone. And when we went out on the football field, we looked like a true monolith. In each match, we played for one another, we were one whole.
— What was your relationship with Oleg Blokhin, who was your colleague at Dynamo and the USSR national team in your position?
— He had a good sense of humor. He asks me: “Belanov, where did you play?”. And I reply: “Together with you.” He says: “I don’t remember.” And I tell him: “How can you not remember? Together we won the Cup Winners' Cup! I, you, and Zavarov scored five goals then!”. Blokhin: “Really? I don’t remember!”. But when I said “What’s wrong with your memory?”, Oleg replied: “Wait, wait: wasn’t it you who ran past the referees and caused them to have a runny nose and clogged noses right away from the wind?”. I say: “Well, finally you remember, that’s good!”. And I add: “When you started at the base in Koncha-Zaspa, they put up a net behind the goal so that, God forbid, no one could run into Obukhiv.”
— What can I say, it was never dull with Blokhin at Dynamo...
— And that was true. In general, at that time, everything in the Dynamo team was in good humor. And Oleg was great in this regard. Today I congratulated him on his birthday and wished him strong health, our Victory, and peace. So that the enemy does not bomb our country. What else is needed right now?
Andriy Pysarenko