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 Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, reaching Serie C2 with US Catanzaro 1929. He began his transition to beach soccer in 2011 when he began playing in the Italian National League (Serie A). In 2013, he was the second top scorer in the league and top scorer in the Coppa Italia. He was subsequently called up to the Italy national team for the first time for a friendly versus

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in August of that year. His competitive debut came at Stage 1 of the 2014 Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL); his performances during the season earnt him a nomination for the

Pallone Azzurro The Pallone Azzurro ("Azure Football") is an individual award assigned by the FIGC to the best Italian player according to the votes of the fans registered to ''Vivo Azzurro'', the official fan club of the Italy national football team. The fans v ...

(Blue Ball). In 2015, he attended his first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, and has since been part of the Italian squads at three further editions (

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

). He was top scorer of Serie A in back-to-back seasons in 2016 and 2017, and was named as the league's

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in 2018 whilst playing for club side Catania. He successfully converted his penalty in the

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

win versus

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the final of 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), ...

to help seal Italy's first European title in 13 years. At the 2019 World Cup, he won the Silver Boot award with 10 goals, was shortlisted for the Golden Ball, and his first goal versus Switzerland was voted as the best of the tournament as he played a crucial role in Italy's run to

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. It was also in 2019 when Zurlo made his 100th appearance for Italy in a 4–3 win versus

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

at the

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from European nations and several transcontinental countries. The Games were envisioned and are governed by the European Olympic Committees ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, and he scored his 100th goal at the World Beach Games in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

. In 2023, Italy coach, Emiliano Del Duca, revamped the national team, purging it of some veteran players. However, Zurlo's services were retained and he was promoted to team captain; in this role, he was

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

for Italy at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Mediterranean Beach Games, and he led Italy to a third European crown at the 2023 EBSL, being one of just two surviving squad members from the previous title win five years prior.

Statistics

Honours

The following is a selection, not an exhaustive list, of the major international honours Zurlo has achieved:

Team

* FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup **Runner-up (1):

**Fourth place (2): 2015,

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

**Winner (2):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Mediterranean Beach Games The Mediterranean Beach Games is a multi-sport event organized by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM) since 2015. The CIJM formed the games in a meeting on October 20, 2012 in Mersin, Turkey, and decided on a format of every 4 ...

**Gold medal (2): 2015,

**Silver medal (2): 2015,

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

* Euro Winners Cup **Runner-up (1): 2015 *World Winners Cup **Winner (1): 2023

Individual

* FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (2): **Silver Boot: 2019 **Goal of the tournament: 2019 *

(1): **Superfinal: ***Top scorer: 2019 *

(1): **Top scorer: 2019

References

External links

Emmanuele Zurlo
profile at

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zurlo, Emmanuele 1988 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 Beach soccer players at the 2023 European Games