Fernando Gil Kreling, better known as Cachopa, is a Brazilian setter whose career has combined a long championship-winning apprenticeship at Sada Cruzeiro with four seasons in Italy and a new chapter at Fenerbahçe Medicana in Türkiye. He remains part of the Brazil men’s national team in 2026, wearing No. 14 during the Volleyball Nations League. His game is built around fast hands, tactical reading and the ability to change the speed and direction of an offense without needing the physical size of many modern setters.
Kreling’s résumé spans several generations of Brazilian volleyball. He won the 2019 FIVB World Cup and the 2021 VNL with Brazil, earned World Championship bronze in 2022 and VNL bronze in 2025, and appeared at both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. At club level, his Sada Cruzeiro years included three FIVB Club World Championship titles, while his single season with Allianz Milano ended with the 2026 CEV Challenge Cup trophy. In September 2026, Brazil added another South American title and secured Olympic qualification for Los Angeles 2028, with Cachopa named as the setter in the championship’s tournament selection.
Player Information
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Fernando Gil Kreling |
| Nickname | Cachopa |
| Date of Birth | January 13, 1996 |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Born | Caxias do Sul, Brazil |
| Position | Setter |
| Height | 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 85 kg (187 lb) |
| Spike Reach | 320 cm (126 in) |
| Block Reach | 302 cm (119 in) |
| Previous Clubs | Sada Cruzeiro; Vero Volley Monza; Allianz Milano |
| Current Club | Fenerbahçe Medicana |
| National Team | Brazil Men’s National Volleyball Team |
| National-Team Number | 14 |
| @fernandokreling |
Early Life & Volleyball Beginnings
Kreling grew up in Caxias do Sul in southern Brazil before leaving home as a teenager to continue his development with Sada Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte. The move was significant beyond volleyball. In a 2020 interview with Olimpíada Todo Dia, he recalled arriving in Belo Horizonte at 17 going on 18 with little experience living independently. He joked that his first month of cooking consisted largely of pasta with sausage while he learned the everyday routines that came with living away from his parents.
His progression at Cruzeiro was deliberately slow. Kreling spent five seasons primarily as a reserve setter, four of them behind William Arjona, and later worked alongside Argentine setter Nicolás Uriarte. When William left after the 2017–18 season, Kreling initially hoped the starting position would become his, but Cruzeiro signed Uriarte instead. Kreling considered leaving in search of more court time, yet stayed and later described the experience as another important stage in his development.
The breakthrough finally came in 2018–19. Once given the starting role, Kreling had to manage a different kind of responsibility: running a title-contending offense rather than learning from the bench. He later said that period forced him to study both his own game and opponents more carefully, manage pressure and develop greater control in important moments. That season also helped open the door to his first call-up to Brazil’s main senior national-team group in 2019.
Club Career
Sada Cruzeiro: From Apprentice to Starting Setter
Sada Cruzeiro provided the environment in which Kreling developed from a young setter into a player trusted to direct one of South America’s strongest club teams. Vero Volley’s career record places him in the Cruzeiro system from the 2013–14 season through 2021–22, a period that covered youth development, years as a backup and eventually a starting role.
His time there coincided with an unusually productive era for the club. Kreling was part of FIVB Club World Championship-winning squads in 2015, 2016 and 2021, as well as six South American Club Championship titles between 2016 and 2022. The 2021 Club World Championship was particularly important individually: he was named Best Setter as Cruzeiro returned to the top of the world club podium. Vero Volley also lists him among the individual award winners from his South American club career.
Not every world championship ended with gold. In 2019, Sada Cruzeiro reached the Club World Championship final in Betim but lost to Cucine Lube Civitanova, finishing with silver. That result is an important distinction in a career record that otherwise includes three world club titles with Cruzeiro.
Vero Volley Monza and the Move to Italy
Kreling left Brazilian club volleyball in 2022 to join Vero Volley Monza, beginning his first European club experience. The move put him in the Italian SuperLega, where setters face a broad range of attacking systems, physical blocks and tactical serving pressure. His first season was disrupted by a knee injury suffered shortly before the regular season, delaying the continuity he had expected from his move to Europe.
The following campaign changed the picture. In 2023–24, Monza reached three major finals: the Coppa Italia, the CEV Challenge Cup and the Italian championship final. The club also credited Kreling with five match-MVP awards across the regular season and playoffs. Although Monza did not convert those finals into a trophy, the season represented the deepest multi-competition run of his Italian club career to that point.
Kreling remained for 2024–25, when Monza entered the men’s CEV Champions League for the first time. It was also his first personal season in Europe’s top club competition. By then, his role in Italy had moved beyond adaptation: he was an established SuperLega starting setter with multiple seasons of familiarity with the league’s attackers, blockers and tactical demands.
Allianz Milano and a European Trophy
In May 2025, Allianz Milano announced Kreling as its new setter for the 2025–26 season. The move kept him in SuperLega but placed him in a different offensive structure under Roberto Piazza. Kreling said that playing important matches and competing for finals were central reasons for accepting the move.
The season delivered the trophy he had narrowly missed with Monza. Allianz Milano won the 2026 CEV Challenge Cup, completing the competition with a 3–0 home victory over Lindemans Aalst in the second leg of the final. Kreling was part of Milano’s championship roster and appeared in the decisive match as the club secured its second European trophy.
Move to Fenerbahçe Medicana
Kreling’s four-season spell in Italy ended in the summer of 2026. Fenerbahçe Medicana added the Brazilian setter to its men’s roster in June, moving him into the Turkish Efeler Ligi for the next phase of his club career. The transfer gave Kreling a third major domestic setting after Brazil and Italy.
Club Career Timeline
| Seasons | Team | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2013–2022 | Sada Cruzeiro | Brazil |
| 2022–2025 | Vero Volley Monza | Italy |
| 2025–2026 | Allianz Milano | Italy |
| 2026–present | Fenerbahçe Medicana | Türkiye |
National Team Career
Kreling’s international pathway began well before his regular role with Brazil’s senior team. His youth record includes continental Best Setter awards at U17, U19, U21 and U23 level, while his age-group teams collected South American titles. Those years gave him experience within Brazil’s national-team system before his 2019 breakthrough with the main senior squad.
That first senior period quickly produced major titles. Brazil won both the 2019 FIVB World Cup and the 2019 South American Championship, followed by the 2021 Volleyball Nations League and another continental championship. Kreling also made Brazil’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic roster, appearing during the tournament held in 2021.
Brazil added a World Championship bronze medal in 2022, and Kreling returned to the Olympic stage at Paris 2024. His presence across both Olympic cycles is significant in a position long associated with established Brazilian setters: he moved from being the younger alternative learning within the senior group to one of its more experienced options.
The next cycle reinforced that change in responsibility. Brazil returned to the VNL podium in 2025, defeating Slovenia 3–1 for bronze in Ningbo. Kreling was part of the medal-winning squad as Brazil returned to the VNL podium after four years.
He remained active with Brazil throughout 2026. The season culminated in September when Brazil defeated Argentina 3–0 at the Maracanãzinho to win its 34th South American Championship and secure qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The championship’s official tournament selection included Cachopa as the setter.
Playing Style & Strengths
Kreling’s game is defined primarily by speed of organization rather than size. Vero Volley has highlighted his tactical intelligence, vision and quick hands, qualities that are visible in the way he tries to make the ball available early to multiple attacking zones. He frequently works from a jump-setting posture, which helps keep opposing middle blockers from committing too soon and allows him to maintain access to both the middle and the pins when reception is controlled.
His connection with middle blockers is an important part of that structure. Kreling is comfortable using first-tempo options to establish pressure through the center of the net, then changing the location or speed of the next set when the opposing block begins to react. The objective is not simply to play fast on every ball. His value comes from varying tempo enough that blockers cannot settle into one predictable rhythm.
That decision-making became more developed once he took over as a full-time starter at Sada Cruzeiro. Kreling has spoken about learning to study opponents, understand his own tendencies and control pressure rather than relying only on technical setting ability. Those elements matter for a setter whose influence is often seen in the quality of the attacking matchups he creates rather than in his own scoring totals.
At 186 cm in Volleyball World’s 2026 listing, Kreling gives away height to many setters who approach or exceed two meters. That places more importance on timing and reading when he is part of the front-row block. In exchange, his compact movement, quick release and ability to transition rapidly from defense into the setting zone suit an offense that wants to keep its rhythm even after imperfect first contacts.
Major Achievements
Selected National Team Honors
| Year | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | FIVB World Cup | Gold |
| 2019 | South American Championship | Gold |
| 2021 | Volleyball Nations League | Gold |
| 2021 | South American Championship | Gold |
| 2022 | FIVB World Championship | Bronze |
| 2025 | Volleyball Nations League | Bronze |
| 2026 | South American Championship | Gold |
Selected Club Honors
| Year / Season | Competition | Result | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | FIVB Club World Championship | Champion | Sada Cruzeiro |
| 2016 | FIVB Club World Championship | Champion | Sada Cruzeiro |
| 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 | South American Club Championship | Champion | Sada Cruzeiro |
| 2019 | FIVB Club World Championship | Runner-up | Sada Cruzeiro |
| 2021 | FIVB Club World Championship | Champion | Sada Cruzeiro |
| 2023–24 | Coppa Italia | Finalist | Vero Volley Monza |
| 2023–24 | CEV Challenge Cup | Finalist | Vero Volley Monza |
| 2023–24 | Italian SuperLega | Finalist | Vero Volley Monza |
| 2025–26 | CEV Challenge Cup | Champion | Allianz Milano |
Selected Individual Awards
| Year | Competition | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | South American U17 Championship | Best Setter |
| 2012 | South American U19 Championship | Best Setter |
| 2014 | South American U21 Championship | Best Setter |
| 2016 | South American U23 Championship | Best Setter |
| 2020 | South American Club Championship | MVP |
| 2021 | FIVB Club World Championship | Best Setter |
| 2026 | South American Championship | Tournament Selection — Setter |
Life Away from Volleyball
Kreling has given a clearer picture of his personality than the generic “private athlete” description often attached to player profiles. In his 2025 interview after signing with Allianz Milano, he described himself as very calm away from the court and said he enjoyed spending time with his girlfriend, friends and dog, as well as playing PlayStation. Milano also noted that he was in Brazil helping promote volleyball events for young people when the interview took place.
The same interview explained the origin of “Cachopa,” the name that has followed him through virtually his entire professional career. Kreling said a boy who played with him during his first year in volleyball gave him the nickname because of his afro-style hair, comparing it to a beehive. He initially disliked being called Cachopa, but the nickname spread to teammates and eventually even his brother and parents. Over time, he accepted it and said he had come to like it.
His earlier move from Caxias do Sul to Belo Horizonte also shaped his life outside volleyball. Kreling has recalled learning basic independence at the same time that he was trying to establish himself within Cruzeiro’s system—cooking for himself, walking to training and finding his way around a new city while still a teenager.
Where Is Fernando Kreling Playing Now?
Fernando Kreling is with Fenerbahçe Medicana in Türkiye after leaving Allianz Milano in the summer of 2026. The Turkish club added him to its roster in June as part of its changes ahead of the new season, moving him from the Italian SuperLega into the Efeler Ligi after four consecutive club seasons in Italy.
Internationally, Kreling remains active with Brazil. Volleyball World listed him as Brazil’s No. 14 setter during the 2026 VNL, and his national-team season continued through September. Brazil’s South American Championship victory over Argentina delivered both the continental title and a direct place at Los Angeles 2028, while Kreling’s inclusion in the tournament selection at setter provided an individual recognition at the end of the event.
That combination makes the 2026–27 club cycle another significant transition in his career: a new national league with Fenerbahçe, but continued responsibility within a Brazilian team already qualified for the next Olympic Games.
Frequently Asked Questions
What position does Fernando Kreling play?
Fernando Kreling is a setter. His role is to organize the offense, control attacking tempo and distribute the ball among Brazil’s and his club’s attackers.
How tall is Fernando Kreling?
Volleyball World’s 2026 VNL profile lists Kreling at 186 cm, approximately 6 feet 1 inch tall.
Which club does Fernando Kreling play for?
Kreling joined Fenerbahçe Medicana in June 2026 after spending the 2025–26 season with Allianz Milano in Italy.
Has Fernando Kreling played at the Olympics?
Yes. Kreling represented Brazil at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held in 2021, and returned for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Why is Fernando Kreling called Cachopa?
Kreling explained in a 2025 club interview that the nickname came from a boy he played with during his first year in volleyball. It was originally a joke about his afro-style hair resembling a beehive. He disliked the nickname at first, but it became so established among teammates and family that he eventually embraced it.
References
- Volleyball World — Fernando Gil Kreling VNL 2026 player profile
- Volleybox — Fernando Kreling player profile
- Vero Volley — Fernando Kreling confirmed at Vero Volley Monza for the 2024–25 season
- Olimpíada Todo Dia — Cachopa sees hard work as the path to his Olympic dream
- Allianz Milano — Fernando Cachopa Kreling joins Allianz Milano
- CEV — Allianz Milano crown perfect campaign with CEV Challenge Cup triumph
- Cumhuriyet — Fenerbahçe Medicana adds Fernando Gil Kreling to its roster
- Brazilian Volleyball Confederation — Brazil wins its 34th South American title and qualifies for Los Angeles 2028
- Volleyball World — Brazil defeats Slovenia to win VNL 2025 bronze
- Volleyball World — Fernando Gil Kreling Tokyo 2020 Olympic player profile
- Volleyball World — Fernando Gil Kreling Paris 2024 Olympic player profile
- Volleyball World — The records that made the 2019 Men’s Club World Championship