Illia hopes to achieve Champions League ‘dream’ with Omagh

Illia Milokost’s dream is to play in the UEFA Futsal Champions League and such is his drive and determination, nobody should be surprised if he achieved that aim.

The 35-year-old arrived in Ireland in 2022, via Portugal, after being displaced by the current war in Ukraine where he first played and fell in love with the sport.

He represented his country at the European Diabetes Futsal Championship (DiaEuro) in 2018, which was held in Kiev and he has brought all of those experiences with him to Omagh Futsal Club, where he has played the last few seasons, commuting from his home in Bundoran to train and play.

While he admits moving across Europe to Portugal and then Ireland has been tough, it’s not the first time he has had his life turned upside down by war.

“It’s not the first time I moved out,” he explained. “I was born in the east of Ukraine, so war came to me in 2014 the first time, so I moved out of my home town to the capital of Ukraine with my family.

“And to be honest, that experience was more difficult than the move to Ireland because I was younger, and you can train mentally [to cope].”

FORCED TO FLEE

Having used that experience to cope with being forced to flee his home once again in 2022, Illia, his wife Marina and their two boys, who are now 11 and 13 years old, departed Ukraine for Ireland, via Portugal, which seemed a better fit given the language barrier presented by life on the Iberian peninsula.

“In Ukraine, we learn English from school. Maybe not a very high standard, but maybe some level, so it’s easier than when you start from zero,” he explained.

“When the war began, the first country we moved to was Portugal because I had a very, very close friend there and he could help with an apartment and everything else.

“The first few months, it was very tough, maybe more mentally, so we had some small experience living in Portugal, which is a very lovely country, but to learn Portuguese from zero is very difficult.

“I know just hello and goodbye in Portuguese, [whereas] in my first day in Ireland I could say some sentences.”

While he was able to make himself understood as soon as he arrived in Ireland, he admits that it took time to get to grips with the day-to-day differences of life here, compared to what he was used to in Ukraine.

“It’s very difficult, very different mentality, different rules in society, different life, different law, different people, everything different and this is what is difficult for me. I feel like a child because you have to learn every time,” he explained.

“There are a lot of situations I look stupid because of different rules, different people, different everything.”

One of the biggest factors in helping him settle and find his feet in Ireland has been sport, which has made his life ‘easier’.

“Sport in Ireland made friends for me,” he beamed. “Now I know people, maybe not so many, but some who I can ask about what I’m interested in.

“For example, if my car breaks down and I’ve no idea what to do I ask people here some basic questions because here everything works different to my country.

“So, because of sport, it made my life easier and I understood this.

“In Portugal, when things were difficult, you could go play, meet people and life is easier – first mentally easier because you can just smile to each other and enjoy the moment even if you can’t speak to each other.”

Now, while that all sounds great and simple in theory, the reality wasn’t quite as straightforward for Illia, who admits there was still a language barrier of sorts on and off the pitch.

“It was so interesting for me because you have some special language in sport or inside the pitch in every country.

“For example, the first time I hear from my team-mates shout ‘time!, time!’ to be honest I thought they meant I have no time, so I must play faster!,” he added.

“Now I understand much, much better, but you have English and you have slang, some slang words. I met a guy in Ballyshannon who trains kids around eight or nine [in soccer] and he ask me to help him with some basic job, maybe giving bibs, or something like that.

“But he first said something about bibs, but I didn’t know [what that was] and every time he call me ‘Sham’ and I had no idea what this sham was.”

Fortunately, Illia has now come to terms with the local lingo and he has also become a key part of the ever-improving Omagh Futsal Club men’s team, who are edging closer and closer to helping him achieve his dream of playing in the Champions League.

It has taken him time to become a key member of the squad, however, as he admits he didn’t hit the ground running.

“Our team is getting better and better. In my first season, my condition was not very good and I didn’t play a lot,” he acknowledged.

“Tactically, lads didn’t really understand futsal – you can see football players playing futsal.

“So, my first season was very tough because I had different mentality and I couldn’t explain myself 100 per cent, I couldn’t understand 100 per cent.

“We tried a couple of my set pieces for free kicks and they started to work, so I think I start to earn more trust from the lads and I changed myself too.”

‘TWICE AS GOOD AS THE FIRST ONE’

Since that difficult start to life with Omagh, Illia has helped the team achieve the club’s best seasons with a NIFF Plate win and last season’s runner-up finishes in the Super League, Champions League play-offs and the NI Cup, all against Sparta.

“My second season was twice as good as the first one,” he beamed. “We have no numbers, we have seven, maximum eight players for whole season and we were third [in the Super League] and in that moment it was best result in Omagh’s history with only six or eight people.

“But [that made it] so easy because we had a connection, we know each other, we trust each other and when we had this trust and connection between players everything is okay, things get better.

“This is, for me, what I enjoy. If we create something and work, this is the best for me.”

While things are getting better, Illia admits last season’s three second placed finishes did sting but he acknowledges once small change could help them go a step further next term – more and better attended training sessions.

“It was close but I always think from the negative side because we played how many finals and we lost everything,” he added.

“But you could see it [the improvement and gaining ground on Sparta], especially the last one, the cup final because in the league final we had problems with players and injuries.

“But the last game was very good, to the end. It was a very sad moment for me because we were so, so, so close. It’s no secret we need more numbers at the training, that’s because last six months we had six or eight players at each training, which is not enough and only once per week, which is not enough.

“This is actually very strange for me.

“I have kids and when we think what to do with the, swimming for example, it’s once a week.

“That is very strange for me because in Ukraine, every type of sport is usually three times a week for kids, especially, because how will they learn from one time per week? They will forget already only one time a week.

“And futsal for me in Ukraine was training two or three times per week and games at the weekend.”

And should they all buy into that work ethic, one Illia, who despite having a full-time job and two young children yet commutes from Bundoran for training in Omagh and matches in Belfast, has in droves, then there’s no reason that he won’t get the chance to achieve his ultimate futsal dream.

“It’s impossible I play for any team in Ukraine and have any chance of playing in Champions League,” he said.

“Here, I have this chance. Here it’s very possible and for me, it’s a dream. It doesn’t matter what score in games will be in Champions League, I will be able to say ‘I was there’ and that is what keeps me very motivated.”