Ukraine belied their underdog status to reach the last eight, but were handed an Italian masterclass by Marcelo Lippi's squad in Hamburg.

Blokhin, a former USSR international and European Footballer of the Year, said: "I have to admit we were missing some of Italy's well known stars, perhaps they could have loaned as a couple -- we could have done with a Ukrainian Totti or Toni!"

But he was proud of his men led by new Chelsea signing Andriy Shevchenko who after a muted first half put Italy under serious pressure after the break but were unable to find a response to goals from Gianluca Zambrotta and Luca Toni.

"I'm disappointed at losing but completely satisfied with our performance considering it was our first World Cup.

"We were among the best teams, we made it to the last eight, as a coach I have to be very happy with that. The sides which have made it to this stage are worthy of being world champions, and we almost made it.

"The Italian team are one of the best and doesn't forgive childish mistakes and we made a few.

"We missed a chance to score but Italy were in a different class to us."

Blokhin reckons Ukraine's showing in Germany where in their first round group stage they fell 4-0 to Spain before bouncing back to beat Saudi Arabia by the same margin and Tunisia 1-0 will have boosted his country's chances of co-hosting the 2012 European Championships.

"I do think we have a good chance of staging it with Poland, I would like it to be so, obviously to be chosen as the host country is a very prestigious reward."

He said he was heading home to Kiev to try and build on the experience of competing on the World Cup stage for the first time.

"I've learned a lot from the coaching aspect, this has been a completely different experience to say the Champions League or the domestic championship.

"I dreamt of my family last night and will return to them to have a break and reflect and analyse and plan where to go from here.

"We have a bright future ahead of us as we've constructed a good young team. Some players are ending their careers, others are coming into the team."

As a final parting shot to the assembled media he said: "I'd just like to thank everyone for what they've written about our team while in Germany, both the science fiction and the truth!"