You betcha, that's my boy! Dad cashes in on goal

KIEV, June 22 (Reuters) The father of Andriy Rusol, who stroked Ukraine's first goal in their 4-0 World Cup rout of Saudi Arabia, won nearly 445 dollars-- three times the average monthly wage in the ex-Soviet state -- after betting on his son.

''I don't really like betting. But an hour before our game with the Saudis I finally decided to go to the bookmakers,'' Anatoly Rusol told the daily Fakty.

''I put 30 hryvnias (6 dollars) on Andriy scoring the first goal.

And another 50 hryvnias (10 dollars) that he would score at some point.Excellent! I knew it! I collected 2,250 hryvnias.'' Rusol scored in the fourth minute of Monday's game, followed by Serhiy Rebrov, Andriy Shevchenko and Maksim Kalinichenko.

Ukraine face Tunisia in their last game in Group H tomorrow.

They need to win to be sure of reaching the last 16 of the World Cup.

The daily said Rusol's father lived in Kirovograd, a small town in central Ukraine.

Though large cities in Ukraine boast luxurious shopping centres, fancy office buildings and plush restaurants, rural regions lag far behind. At least a third of its 47 million live in poverty 15 years after the collapse of communism.

REUTERS DH RK1658