Gabriele Gori (born 10 October 1987) is an Italian

beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each. Association football has long been played informally on ...

player who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. Known for his agility in scoring many audacious

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick or scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

s, he is one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time in the sport, having amassed over 800 as of 2022, including winning the top scorer award at the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

editions of the

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the Beach Soccer World Championshi ...

, and becoming the all-time top scorer of the Italy national team. He is recognised as being one the world's best players.

Career

International

Gori originally played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

professionally, reaching as high as

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

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 Viareggio () is a city and ''comune'' in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Ligurian Sea. With a population of over 62,000, it is the second largest city in the province of Lucca, after Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as well a ...

.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 Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, aged 22. Gabriele Gori beach soccer

Gori recovered from knee surgery in time to be included in the Italian team for the

2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the sixth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, governed by FIFA. Overall, this was the 16th edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the '' Beach Soccer World Championships'' ...

on home sand in

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, but suffered at the tournament with a

fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...

. At his next World Cup appearance in 2015, he scored his 100th goal for Italy during the semi-final defeat to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

, ending the tournament as its joint second top scorer. Later that summer, he scored four of Italy's five goals in the gold medal match of the

Mediterranean Beach Games The Mediterranean Beach Games is a multi-sport event organized by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM) since 2015. Formation The CIJM formed the games in a meeting on October 20, 2012 in Mersin, Turkey, and decided on a for ...

versus

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, 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 Beach Soccer Stars is an annual award ceremony in beach soccer organised by the sport's developmental body, Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW). The first edition was held on 7 November 2014 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The ceremony continued to tak ...

awards ceremonyBeach Soccer Stars: Gabriele Gori tra i cinque top players al Mondo, Josep Jr miglior giovane talento

Lega Nazionale Dilettanti The Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (National Amateur League) is the league which rules amateur football of Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in Italy. Founded in 1959 in Rome, it has many leagues inside: a national league, the Inter-regional Committ ...

. 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 The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...

. His biggest individual accolade came six months later at the 2017 World Cup, where he won the Golden Boot (top scorer) with 17 goals, and his 12 goals during the

2018 EBSL The 2018 Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) was the 21st edition of the ''Euro Beach Soccer League'', the annual, premier competition in European beach soccer contested between men's national teams. It was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), ...

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”

. 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 Paolo Palmacci (born 17 May 1984), is an Italian beach soccer player who plays as a midfielder, having originally started as a forward. He has appeared at eight editions of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup representing the Italy national team, ...

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 João Victor Saraiva (born 22 January 1977), better known as Madjer, is a Portuguese retired beach soccer player. He played in the Striker (association football), forward position, and has won numerous awards at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. 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. Gabriele Gori1

After the emergence of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and its effects on sport, Gori made scathing criticisms of the lack of support for beach soccer from the

. He scored his 300th goal for Italy in a 12–0 victory versus

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

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 A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

after just four minutes of the EBSL encounter versus

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He then suffered a "serious"

cruciate Cruciate, and similar words, can mean: *The cruciate ligaments in the knee *For a magic spell in the Harry Potter scenario, see crucio *Latin and early-English word for crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supporte ...

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 The Euro Winners Cup (EWC) is an annual, continental beach soccer club competition contested between top-division European teams; the clubs that are their country's national league/cup champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) from ...

(EWC), Coppa Italia and the Italian League; in 2018, he overtook

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 In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick or scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne Ball (association football), ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backwar ...

attempt converted from inside his own half which sealed an extra-time victory over Catania in a league match; the goal went notably

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

, with

Sky Sport Italia Sky Sport is a group of nine sports satellite TV channels in the Italian language produced and broadcast by Sky Italia. Channels The channel "Roma TV" is also included in the Sky Sport package. Sky Sport 24 Sky Sport 24 is a sports all-new ...

describing it as "driving commentators, the public, and the web crazy." Enrico Pace of ''Lucca in Diretta'' assessed the goal as, "

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

... 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 Catania on a three-year contract. His link-up with fellow national team striker

Emmanuele Zurlo Emmanuele Zurlo (born 7 February 1988) is an Italian beach soccer player who plays as a forward for the Italy national team. Career Zurlo originally pursued a career in association football, reaching Serie C2 with US Catanzaro 1929. He began ...

at the club was described "as if a

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

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 Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, Artur Music of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, Boca Gdańsk of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and FC City of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Style of play

Gori is known for being a lethal

goal poacher Association football (more commonly known as football or soccer) was first codified in 1863 in England, although games that involved the kicking of a ball were evident considerably earlier.

, possessing exceptional technique in executing goals. He is particularly famed for his ability in performing successful

s, 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 An estate agent is a person or business in the United Kingdom that arranges the selling, renting, or managing of real estate, properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a Letting agent, letting or manag ...

and runs his own business in his hometown (as of 2019). He was formerly a

quantity surveyor In the construction industry, a quantity surveyor (QS) is a professional with expert knowledge of construction costs and contracting. Qualified professional quantity surveyors can be known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) i ...

. 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 Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

Statistics

;Country

;Club

Honours

''As of 2023.'' The following is a selection, not an exhaustive list, of the major honours Gori has achieved:

Team

''International'' *

**Runner-up (1):

**Fourth place (2):

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Euro Beach Soccer League The Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) is the premier competition in beach soccer featuring European men's national teams. The competition has been held annually since its establishment in 1998, making it the oldest beach soccer tournament in Europe ...

**Winner (1):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

**Runner-up (1):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

**Gold medal (1):

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committ ...

**Silver medal (1):

* UEFA qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup **Runner-up (1):

Euro Beach Soccer Cup The Euro Beach Soccer Cup (EBSC), originally known as the ''European Pro Beach Soccer Championships'' until 2004, was a biennial (previously annual) beach soccer competition contested between European men's national teams, organised by Beach Soc ...

**Runner-up (1):

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

**Winner (1):

''Domestic'' *Italian Serie A **Winner (1): 2016 **Runner-up (3): 2012, 2015, 2019 *Coppa Italia **Winner (3): 2012, 2016, 2021 **Runner-up (1): 2017 *Supercoppa Italiana **Winner (3): 2018, 2021, 2022

Individual

''International'' *

(2): **Golden Boot: 2017, 2019 *

(3): **World's top 3 best players: 2016, 2019 **World dream team: 2019 *

World Beach Games The ANOC World Beach Games, known simply as the ''World Beach Games'', is an international multi-sport event organized by the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC). The games are held wikt:Special:Search/biennially, biennially in odd-n ...

(1): **Top scorer:

(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 *

(1): **Top scorer: 2019 *UEFA qualifiers for the World Beach Games (1): **Top scorer:

(1): **Top scorer:

(3): **Top scorer: 2016,

''Domestic'' *Italian Serie A (6): **Top scorer: 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022 *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

. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2024. * Blue Ball (1): **2016

References

External links

Gabriele Gori
profile at

Beach Soccer Worldwide Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) is the organisation responsible for the founding and growth of the association football-based sport of beach soccer. The founding partners of BSWW codified the rules of beach soccer in 1992, with BSWW as it is known ...

Gabriele Gori
profile at Beach Soccer Russia (in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gori, Gabriele 1987 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italian beach soccer players Men's association football forwards European Games silver medalists for Italy Beach soccer players at the 2015 European Games European Games medalists in beach soccer Beach soccer players at the 2019 European Games Real estate agents Sportspeople from Viareggio Footballers from Tuscany 21st-century Italian sportsmen Italian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine