Dynamo Kyiv signed Ukraine national team coach Oleh Blokhin to lead the club for the next four years on Tuesday.
Blokhin replaces Yuri
Semin, the Russian who was fired on Monday following four losses in
Dynamo’s past five games. The team was beaten 4-1 by French club Paris
Saint-Germain in its Champions League opener and lost by the same score
to main rival Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine Cup.
Dynamo President Ihor Surkis said that “after two consecutive defeats with a big score, there was no other choice.”
Blokhin, a Dynamo great who was voted Europe’s best player in 1975, will continue to lead Ukraine in the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Montenegro in October before switching fully to club coaching.
“I’m
ready to work 24/7 to reach this goal,” Blokhin said. “The team needs
to spread its wings. We cannot lose 4-1 all the time. It’s too much for
Dynamo Kiev.”
The 59-year-old Blokhin
started his coaching career in Greece with Olympiakos in 1990, winning
two Greek Cups in three years. He took charge of Ukraine in 2003 and eventually led the team to the 2006 World Cup quarterfinals in Germany before losing to eventual champion Italy.
He stood down in 2007 after Ukraine
failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championship, but was
reappointed in April 2011 following a coaching stint with Dinamo Moscow
and after holding an executive position at Chornomorets Odessa.
Dynamo
was a consistent European contender from the 1970s to 90s, winning two
Cup Winners’ Cup titles and the Super Cup, but the team has failed to
meet those standards in recent years.
Dynamo hasn’t won a league
title since 2009 under Semin. Before the current campaign, the club
hadn’t made the Champions League group stage since the 2008-09 season,
when it failed to advance.
