Gabriele Gori (beach soccer)

Gori originally played association football professionally, reaching as high as Serie C including two clubs between 2006–08.[3]

Gori was invited by a friend to play beach soccer with the team of his hometown, Viareggio, at a festival in 2010.[3][4] Gori was sceptical about the sport and only accepted the invitation because of his friend's passion.[4] Despite his reservations, the event went well for Gori and he continued to play with Viareggio.[4] That summer, then Italy coach Massimiliano Esposito, having seen Gori play during the Italian League, called him up to the national team for the 2010 Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) Superfinal in Lisbon, aged 22.[3]

At the beginning of his career, his father believed he was making the wrong decision dedicating so much time to the sport.[3] However, since then, Gori has cemented his place in the Italian squad, going on to become Italy's all-time top-scorer.[4]

Gori recovered from knee surgery in time to be called up to the Italian team for the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Ravenna.[3] Subsequently, Gori was the joint second top scorer of the 2015 World Cup[5] and helped Italy win the gold medal at that year's Mediterranean Beach Games,[3] Italy's first major honour since 2005.[6] In 2016, Gori was voted as one of the three best players in the world at the annual Beach Soccer Stars awards[7] and won the Pallone Azzurro (Blue Ball) award for best Italian player of the year bestowed by the Italian Football Federation.[8] His biggest individual accolade came six months later at the 2017 World Cup, where he won the Golden Boot (top scorer) with 17 goals[9] and his 12 goals during the 2018 EBSL season helped Italy secure their first European crown in 13 years, ending 2018 on the verge of 200 goals for Gli Azzurri.[6] A year later, Gori was once again named one of the world's best three players and named amongst the dream team for 2019 at the Beach Soccer Stars awards[7] and ended the season with a silver medal at the 2019 World Cup, winning the Golden Boot once again, the first player to win consecutive top scorer awards since Madjer in 2005 and 2006.[10] He was also named as one of the tournament's top ten best players, out of the 192 participants.[11]

In 2021, Gori was critical of the lack of support for beach soccer from the Italian Football Federation during the COVID-19 pandemic and stated he expects to play for another three years.[12]

Gori had played for Viareggio since 2010,[1] having appeared alongside childhood friends and fellow national team players Andrea Carpita, Dario Ramacciotti, Simone Marinai, Matteo Marrucci and Michele di Palma.[3][13] His personal highlight came in 2016 when the team won the treble of the Euro Winners Cup (EWC), Coppa Italia and the Italian League.[3] As of 2019, Gori played approximately 150 matches, scoring 360 goals for the club in all competitions.[1] In 2020, it was announced Gori was leaving Viareggio after 10 years, along with Ramacciotti, to join Napoli.[2]

He has also had brief stints at the EWC and other international clubs events for the likes of Braga of Portugal, Artur Music of Ukraine, Boca Gdańsk of Poland and FC City of Russia.