After establishing himself as one of the old Soviet Union's finest-ever footballers, it would have been easy for Oleg Blokhin to walk away from the game when his playing days were over.

But despite picking up eight league titles with Dynamo Kiev, five domestic cups, two European Cup Winners' Cups and setting a national record by scooping three Soviet Player of the Year awards, Blokhin still felt he had much to offer. He was not wrong.

The 1975 European Footballer of the Year, who scored a record 42 goals for his country, has once again proved his worth at the very highest level by leading Ukraine, his adopted country since the break-up of the Soviet Union, to their first ever appearance in the World Cup finals.

Despite boasting the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Sergei Rebrov, Ukraine narrowly missed out on both the 1998 and 2002 tournaments following heartbreaking play-off defeats.

But Blokhin has turned around their ailing fortunes in dramatic style since taking charge in October 2003 and guided his country through a tricky qualifying group which included European champions Greece and Turkey, who finished third in the last World Cup.

Inspired, as ever, by the spell-binding skills of Shevchenko, they stormed to the top of Group Two and were the first European side to secure qualification for the finals in Germany.

Much is made of Shevchenko's influence on the side but Blokhin deserves the lion's share of praise for finally guiding them over the finish line following years of misfortune and near misses.

Blokhin had previously cut his managerial teeth in the Greek domestic league before a cry for help came from Ukraine after Leonid Buryak had paid with his job for not achieving qualification for Euro 2004.

The former Kiev hitman was hardly a unanimous choice due to a less than high-profile coaching background but was entrusted with the task of ending his country's poor run by Ukrainian Football president Hrygori Surkis.

The death of legendary coach Valeryi Lobanovskyi in May 2002 had left a cloud over the Ukrainian game but Blokhin has since brought the good times back to a football-mad nation.

He has adapted quickly to international management and, furthermore, has instilled a whole new mentality into his players.

Serhiy Storozhenko, Surkis' deputy president, was in no doubt that Blokhin would prove a hugely successful appointment right from the start.

"Ukrainian football is led by a hero in Oleg Blokhin," he said.

"A man who is active in life and who carries a vision of construction for the national team. Oleg believes that Ukrainian football is developing very dynamically."

Blokhin, now aged 53, was one of the original superstars of Russian football.

He made his first appearance for Dynamo Kiev as an 18-year-old in 1970 and helped the club to the league title the following year.

However, it was the 1971-72 season that saw Blokhin make his major breakthrough as a footballing phenomenon. He scored 14 times in 27 league starts to finish as Russia's leading goalscorer, although Kiev only managed to finish the season in second place.

He was top scorer again the following season and added to his blossoming reputation by picking up the Russian Player of the Year award for the first time.

The 1973-74 season, however, was the finest he enjoyed at domestic level, when he again top-scored with 20 goals, scooped the Player of the Year award for a second time, and won the league and cup double with Kiev.

Dynamo retained their league title again in 1975, with Blokhin again topping the scoring charts, and he also enhanced his burgeoning reputation by gaining European recognition.

Kiev claimed the European Cup Winners' Cup with a 3-0 win over Ferencváros in the final and Blokhin was rewarded for his stunning personal contribution by being named the 1975 European Footballer of the Year.

In total, Blokhin played 18 seasons for Dynamo Kiev - with most of them coming under the stewardship of the late Valery Lobanovsky.

He still holds the all-time Soviet league scoring record with 211 goals in 432 games and played in the World Cup finals of 1982 and 1986 for his country, as well as winning the European Cup Winners' Cup with Kiev again in 1986.

When his playing career finally came to an end in 1990, Blokhin turned his hand to coaching in the Greek league.

Olympiacos and PAOK Salonika were his first rungs on the managerial ladder before moving on to Ionikos in 1990. He walked away from football to become a communist member of Ukrainian parliament in February 1997 but the lure of the Beautiful Game proved too strong to resist.

Early indications suggest Blokhin has a long and successful career in international management ahead of him - but he will be eager to prove his credentials on the biggest stage of all.