Voronin ends Blokhin bust-up

Liverpool striker ends national spat

By Peter Fraser   Last updated: 9th October 2007   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Voronin ends Blokhin bust-up

Voronin: Recall

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Andrei Voronin insists he has ended his feud with Ukraine manager Oleg Blokhin and is ready to fire his country to Euro 2008 qualification.

The Liverpool striker feared he had played his final part of Ukraine's qualifying campaign after being involved in a public spat with Blokhin following September's 2-1 defeat to Italy.

Blokhin blamed Voronin for allowing Italy's Antonio Di Natale to score the decisive goal in the Group B meeting.

Voronin admits the criticism hurt him, but having been recalled to the squad to face Scotland on Saturday he is ready to kick-start Ukraine's slender qualification hopes.

Passion

Ukraine sit fourth, eight points behind leaders Scotland, in the group but Voronin is adamant his passion for his country and respect for his manager will motivate him.

"The trouble started from the moment Blokhin took over the national team," Voronin told the Daily Record.

"Friends joked that Blokhin seemed to have a special thing for me - that he knew I was capable of better things and was going out of his way to pick on me to get a reaction.

"The hurt builds up, you want to say something, especially as I know I'm capable of it. I stayed patient for a long-time, held back.

Respect

"I respect him as a character. This is a person who achieved great results, who was named best player in Europe - he deserves respect for that.

"But then there is the relationship between coach and player, the relationship between two people.

"I've never allowed myself to raise my voice towards my elders in the past. I'm sure I said something I shouldn't have and for that I apologise once more.

"I've always been enthusiastic about playing for the national team. There are four games left and we have a theoretical chance of qualification, although in practice it's virtually non-existent."