The Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships may have finished in Uzbekistan in May, but the acrobatics may not be done there this year. First, though, backflipping baron Igor Cherniavskyi needs to get through passport control.

“When I was 13 years old, one of my friends started calling me ‘Igorella’,” the Ukrainian told FIFA. “I hated it, I was very angry with him. But after two years I thought, ‘It actually sounds pretty cool’.

“Now I can’t even imagine anyone calling me anything else (laughs). It’s almost become my forename. Ninety per cent of people in my life – friends, family, team-mates call me ‘Igorella’. Maybe the time has come to change the name in my passport!”

‘Igorella’ excelled at the UEFA Futsal EURO 2022, helping Ukraine eliminate Kazakhstan and reach the semi-finals. The 28-year-old does not, however, want to bask in that success.

“It was my first experience at a major international tournament,” he said. “I’ll remember the emotions from that tournament for the rest of my life. But that story has already been written. It’s time to write a new one.”

Cherniavskyi and Co will get the chance to pen a new chapter in their storied futsal history at the upcoming FIFA Futsal World Cup™. Lithuania 2021 was the first global finals they missed since Guatemala 2000. Handicapped by being unable to play in Ukraine during the qualifiers, a couple of disappointing ‘home’ results left them needing to beat Poland in Poland to reach Uzbekistan 2024 automatically.

“Our goal was to finish first, to qualify for the World Cup automatically,” said Cherniavskyi. “It came down to the last game. We needed to win or we would have had to go through the play-offs. The adrenaline was really high throughout the game. It was really cool to get the victory and qualify.

“The World Cup is the dream for every player. It’s the biggest event in our sport. I’m really looking forward to it. It will be a big honour for me to represent Ukraine in the World Cup.”

First up for Ukraine will be Argentina, the 2016 champions and 2021 runners-up, before encounters with Angola and World Cup debutants Afghanistan.

“Argentina are a top team,” said Cherniavskyi. “They’ve been world champions. It will be very interesting to play against one of the strongest teams in the world. It’s difficult to say who’s their best player, but I’d go with Alan Brandi.

“Angola are a really good team. I watched some of their highlights from the AFCON. They played really well and reached the final. I’ve watched some highlights of Afghanistan. I’ve also watched some matches on YouTube. They’re a good team, quite fast.

“We want to win every match. I’m an optimist in life. When I enter the court, it doesn’t matter who we’re up against, I’m only thinking about victory. We’ll take it game by game. We’ll give it our best to give a good account of ourselves.”

Something that instills Cherniavskyi with confidence is two results in the 2023/24 UEFA Futsal Champions League. FC Hit drew away to away to Joao Matos, Alex Merlim, Pany Varela, Taynan, Zicky and Sporting, and registered another stalemate against Luan Muller, Chaguinha, Romulo and Palma, who were en route to making it back-to-back titles.

“We’ve played against a lot of former and current champions in the Champions League,” said Cherniavskyi. “We did well against Sporting and Palma. Against Palma, we could have even got the win, but unfortunately we didn’t.

“We absolutely took confidence from those games. It showed us what level we’re at. We proved we can be a match for anyone. We want to prove that again at the World Cup.”

Net manufacturers will be on standby when Cherniavskyi hits Tashkent and Andijan. He possesses, after all, one of the most thunderous shots in futsal. If he ripples net in Central Asia, we may see one of its most iconic celebrations: the Igorellaflip.

“The main goal is to help Ukraine win matches,” he stressed. “I will give my everything for this. But if I’m lucky enough to score in Uzbekistan, I think the spectators will see a special celebration!”