Gabriele Gori (born 10 October 1987) is an Italian beach soccer player who plays as a forward.
Known for his agility in scoring bicycle kicks, he won the top scorer award at the 2017 and 2019 editions of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, and becoming the all-time top scorer of the Italy national team.
Career International Gori originally played association football professionally, reaching as high as Serie C including two clubs between 2006 and 2008.“Nothing beats winning everything with childhood friends at Viareggio, the club of our hearts”. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 18 June 2019. However, injuries prevented his football career from advancing further.
In 2010, Gori was invited by a friend to play beach soccer at a memorial event with the team of his hometown, Viareggio.Gori, geometra del gol: "Beach soccer? 10 anni fa non lo conoscevo". Ora trascina l'Italia. Sky Sport Italia. 26 November 2019. (in Italian) Gori was sceptical about the sport and only accepted the invitation because of his friend's passion. Despite his reservations, the event went well for Gori and he was invited to continue to play with Viareggio. That summer, the then Italy coach, Massimiliano Esposito, having seen Gori play during the Italian League, called him up for his debut in the national team at the 2010 Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) Superfinal in Lisbon, aged 22.
Gori recovered from knee surgery in time to be included in the Italian team for the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup on home sand in Ravenna, but suffered at the tournament with a fever. At his next World Cup appearance in 2015, he scored his 100th goal for Italy during the semi-final defeat to Tahiti, ending the tournament as its joint second top scorer.FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015 Players - Top goals. FIFA. 2015. Later that summer, he scored four of Italy's five goals in the gold medal match of the Mediterranean Beach Games versus Egypt, securing Italy's first major honour for ten years. After earning his 100th cap for Italy in September 2016, Gori was then voted as one of the three best players in the world at that year's annual season-ending Beach Soccer Stars awards ceremonyBeach Soccer Stars: Gabriele Gori tra i cinque top players al Mondo, Josep Jr miglior giovane talento. Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. 10 November 2019. and also won the Pallone Azzurro (Blue Ball) award for best Italian player of the year bestowed by the Italian Football Federation.Gabriele Gori ha vinto il Pallone azzurro 2016.. Viareggio Beach Soccer. 1 January 2017. His biggest individual accolade came six months later at the 2017 World Cup, where he won the Golden Boot (top scorer) with 17 goals,Brazil crowned world champions in The Bahamas. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 7 May 2019. and his 12 goals during the 2018 EBSL season helped Italy secure their first European crown in 13 years, the biggest title of Gori's career.Il bomber Gori si racconta a VivoAzzurro: “Dopo il titolo Europeo ora voglio il Pallone d’Oro”. Italian Football Federation. 18 September 2019.
Gori began 2019 by registering his 200th goal for Gli Azzurri in what was his most prolific ever start to a season, during which he overtook Paolo Palmacci to become Italy's all-time top goalscorer. But his season then took a set-back as he missed out on winning Italy's second gold medal at the Mediterranean Beach Games due to injury. However, he returned to end the year with a silver medal at the 2019 World Cup, and won the Golden Boot once again (despite playing with an injured foot), the first player to win consecutive top scorer awards at the World Cup since Madjer in 2005 and 2006. He was also named as one of the tournament's top ten best players, out of the 192 participants. Gori was also once again named one of the world's best three players and named amongst the world dream team for 2019 at the Beach Soccer Stars awards.
After the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on sport, Gori made scathing criticisms of the lack of support for beach soccer from the Italian Football Federation.Гори: "Пляжный футбол в Италии — огромный блеф" (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
He scored his 300th goal for Italy in a 12–0 victory versus Denmark during an ultimately unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaign in June 2021. Gori's final match of the 2022 season was marred by him receiving a red card after just four minutes of the EBSL encounter versus Spain. He then suffered a "serious" cruciate injury and did not return to fitness until July 2023; his recovery was described as being "slow" by October, and he was subsequently left out of Italy's 18-man shortlist for the 2024 World Cup.
Club Domestically, Gori began playing for Viareggio in 2010,Rosa 2019. Viareggio Beach Soccer. 2019. appearing alongside childhood friends and fellow national team players Andrea Carpita, Dario Ramacciotti, Simone Marinai, Matteo Marrucci and Michele di Palma.Beach soccer, è Gori-mania. Il geometra che fa impazzire con la maglia azzurra. La Nazione Viareggio. 30 November 2019. His personal highlight came in the 2016 season when the team won the treble of the Euro Winners Cup (EWC), Coppa Italia and the Italian League; in 2018, he overtook Paolo Palmacci to become the all-time leading goalscorer of the latter, with over 300. It was also playing for Viareggio in 2019 when he scored his most memorable goal in beach soccer, a trademark overhead kick attempt converted from inside his own half which sealed an extra-time victory over Catania in a league match; the goal went notably viral, with Sky Sport Italia describing it as "driving commentators, the public, and the web crazy." Enrico Pace of Lucca in Diretta assessed the goal as, "sci-fi... that will remain in the history of beach soccer."
In 2020, it was announced Gori was leaving Viareggio after 10 years,Beach Soccer, Gori e Ramacciotti salutano Viareggio e passano al Napoli. Lucca in Diretta. 24 January 2020. having played approximately 150 matches and scoring 350 goals for the club in all competitions. He joined CataniaGori raggiunge Zurlo a Catania, l'attacco azzurro all'ombra dell'Etna (in Italian). Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. on a three-year contract.Габриэле Гори подписал трёхлетний контракт с "Катанией" (in Russian). BS Russia. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. His link-up with fellow national team striker Emmanuele Zurlo at the club was described "as if a Serie A club could deploy Immobile and Insigne up front." In 2023, he signed a two-year deal with Pisa, but returned to Viareggio in 2024.
He has also had brief stints at the EWC and other international club events for the likes of Braga of Portugal, Artur Music of Ukraine, Boca Gdańsk of Poland and FC City of Russia.
Style of play Gori is known for being a lethal goal poacher, possessing exceptional technique in executing goals. He is particularly famed for his ability in performing successful bicycle kicks, so much so that he is nicknamed in Italian, "il re delle rovesciate" (English: the king of bicycle kicks). He is also nicknamed, "Tin-Tin".
He studied and modelled his play style off of his beach soccer idol, Amarelle, also known for his acrobatics and overhead kicks.
Personal life Gori is an estate agent and runs his own business in his hometown (as of 2019). He was formerly a quantity surveyor. At the beginning of his beach soccer career, his father believed he was making a mistake dedicating so much time to the sport. He claims to cope well with balancing work and his beach soccer career but that it has got increasingly difficult. Gori has also fathered a son, Cristian (born December 2017). He supports Juventus.
Statistics
Country National team Season Euro League World Cup Other Total Ref. Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals201033—26425681 2011 — 4 1 2012 8 10 — 2013 6 12 — 2014 9 13 — 2015 7 12 6 7 10 24 23 43 2016 9 7 — 12 30 21 37 2017 9 11 6 17 3 5 18 33 2018 9 12 — — 9 12 2019 3 4 6 16 30 66 39 86 2020 No matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 7 16 — 8 11 15 27 202269—6121221Total 76 109 22 41 95 190 193 340 —
Club Tournament Year Club Apps Goals Ref.Euro Winners Cup 2013 Viareggio 3 9 2015 Braga 7 9 2016 Viareggio 7 18 2017 7 18 2018 3 5 2019 Artur Music 8 26 2020 7 21 Total 42 106 —
Honours As of 2023.
The following is a selection, not an exhaustive list, of the major honours Gori has achieved:
Team International
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Runner-up (1): 2019 Fourth place (2): 2015, 2017 Euro Beach Soccer League Winner (1): 2018 Runner-up (1): 2010 Mediterranean Beach Games Gold medal (1): 2015 European Games Silver medal (1): 2015 UEFA qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Runner-up (1): 2019 Euro Beach Soccer Cup Runner-up (1): 2016 Euro Winners Cup Winner (1): 2016
Domestic Italian Serie A Winner (1): 2016 Runner-up (3): 2012, 2015, 2019 Coppa Italia Winner (3): 2012, 2016, 2021Caffè Lo Re Catania, terza Coppa Italia di fila. Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2024. Runner-up (1): 2017 Supercoppa Italiana Winner (3): 2018, 2021,Catania alza la Supercoppa 2021 e diventa la squadra più titolata in Italia. Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. 11 July 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2024. 2022Supercoppa 2022: è ancora Catania Beach Soccer. Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
Individual International
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (2): Golden Boot: 2017, 2019 Beach Soccer Stars (3): World's top 3 best players: 2016, 2019 World dream team: 2019 World Beach Games (1): Top scorer: 2019 Euro Beach Soccer League (4): Regular season stages: Top scorer: 2014 (x1), 2015 (x1) Best player: 2015 (x1), 2016 (x1) UEFA qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (1): Top scorer: 2019 European Games (1): Top scorer: 2019 UEFA qualifiers for the World Beach Games (1): Top scorer: 2019 Euro Beach Soccer Cup (1): Top scorer: 2016 Euro Winners Cup (3): Top scorer: 2016, 2017, 2019 Euro Winners Challenge (1): Top scorer: 2018
Domestic Italian Serie A (6): Top scorer: 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022Serie AON: Pisa Campione d’Italia per il secondo anno di fila. Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. 7 August 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2024. Coppa Italia (5): Top scorer: 2010, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022Coppa Italia AON: Pisa alza al cielo il trofeo per la prima volta nella sua storia. Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2024. Blue Ball (1): 2016
References
External links Gabriele Gori, profile at Beach Soccer Worldwide Gabriele Gori, profile at Beach Soccer Russia (in Russian)