Gabriel Vasconcelos Ferreira (born 27 September 1992), usually known as Gabriel () or Gabriel Vasconcelos, is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for Juventude, on loan from

Coritiba Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as heCoxa, is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909 by German immigrants, it is the olde ...

. A product of Cruzeiro's youth system, Gabriel was signed by

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

at the age of 19. He has since spent time both at the club and on various loans. At the international level, Gabriel made a single appearance for the Brazil national team in August 2012. Previously, he was part of the under-23 squad that won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London.

Club career

Cruzeiro (2007–2012)

Gabriel started his footballing career in the youth teams of Cruzeiro in 2007. During the 2010 and 2011 seasons, he also featured as an unused substitute with the first team on four occasions, including one game of the 2011 Campeonato Mineiro, which Cruzeiro eventually won.

AC Milan (2012–2018)

Early seasons (2012–2014)

At the beginning of the 2012–13 season, Gabriel was signed by

to serve as backup for

Christian Abbiati Christian Abbiati (born 8 July 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Abbiati, who had been with AC Milan since 1998, started his career with Monza, and later played more than 300 official matches for Mil ...

and

Marco Amelia Marco Amelia (; born 2 April 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and current coach in charge of Serie D amateurs Nuova Sondrio. A Roma youth product, Amelia spent most of his professional club career ...

. After making no official appearances during his first year at the club, Gabriel's official debut came on 19 October 2013, as manager

Massimiliano Allegri Massimiliano "Max" Allegri (; born 11 August 1967) is an Italian professional Association football, football manager and former professional player. He is currently manager of Serie A club AC Milan. During his playing career, Allegri played in ...

chose him to start in place of an injured Abbiati for 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 ...

game at home against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

; the Brazilian kept a clean sheet in the 1–0 win. He finished his second season at Milan with seven appearances.

Loan spells (2014–2018)

On 1 September 2014, Gabriel joined

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Carpi * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Roman Catholic titular see People ...

on a season-long loan from Milan. Serving as the first-choice goalkeeper, he played 39 league games out of 42, all as a starter, and contributed to the club's successful season, in which they finished at the top of the table and won their first-ever promotion to

. For the 2015–16 season, Gabriel moved to Serie A club

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, once again on a season-long loan. Serving as

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his career with the Barce ...

's understudy, Gabriel finished the season with four appearances (one in the league, three in

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

). Gabriel went back to Milan for the 2016–17 season. However, being second-choice to

Gianluigi Donnarumma Gianluigi Donnarumma (; born 25 February 1999) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain FC, Paris Saint-Germain and Captain (ass ...

, he didn't get any playing time in the competitive games during the first half of the season. In January 2017, he was loaned out to

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

for the rest of the season. However, he still didn't get regular playing time, making only three appearances. After returning to Milan for the 2017–18 season, Gabriel once again failed to make any competitive appearance, having fallen back to fourth choice behind the Donnarumma brothers and

Marco Storari Marco Storari (born 7 January 1977) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After a lengthy spell in Italy's lower leagues, he arrived in Serie A aged 27. Steady performances for Messina prompted his signing by A.C. Milan i ...

. On 30 January 2018, he was loaned out to Serie B side

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

for the remainder of the season.

Perugia

On 17 August 2018, Gabriel signed with

club

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

for free.

Lecce

On 3 July 2019, Gabriel signed with

club

U.S. Lecce Unione Sportiva Lecce () is a Football in Italy, professional Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia. The club play in Serie A in the 2023–24 Serie A, 2023–24 season, the top level of the Italian football league system, Italian footb ...

a 2-years contract.

International career

Brazil Under-20

Gabriel was part of the Brazil under-20 squad that won the

South American Youth Championship South American Youth Championships may refer to: * South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American foo ...

in February 2011, appearing in eight games out of nine. The following August he was called up by manager

Ney Franco Ney Franco da Silveira Júnior (born 22 July 1966), known as Ney Franco, is a Brazilian football coach. Career Born in Vargem Alegre, Minas Gerais, Franco worked in Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro's youth categories before being named the l ...

to take part also in the

FIFA under-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

. He played in all seven games as a starter, as Brazil claimed the trophy by defeating

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 ...

3–2 in the final at El Campín stadium.

Brazil Under-23

Gabriel was called up by Brazil under-23 to take part in the 2012 Olympic Football tournament as a replacement for the injured

Rafael Cabral Rafael Cabral Barbosa (born 20 May 1990), known as Rafael Cabral or simply Rafael, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Real Salt Lake. Club career Santos Born in Sorocaba, Rafael joined Santos youth system in ...

two days before the start of the competition. After remaining on the bench for the first two games, Gabriel made his debut in the tournament in the third and last match of the group stage against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, which Brazil won 3–0. He retained his place as a starter in each of the following three games, as Brazil went on to win the

after being defeated 2–1 by

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the final.

Brazil

Three days after playing in the Olympic final, on 15 August 2012, Gabriel made his senior debut for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, featuring as a starter in a 3–0 friendly win over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, having the distinction of playing his first professional match at full international level.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Cruzeiro *

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Carpi *

: 2014–15 Milan *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

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 ...

Empoli *

: 2017–18 Brazil *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

Olympic Silver Medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid ou ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabriel 1992 births AC Milan players Men's association football goalkeepers Brazil men's international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian men's footballers Cagliari Calcio players AC Carpi players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players SSC Napoli players Empoli FC players AC Perugia Calcio players US Lecce players Coritiba Foot Ball Club players Esporte Clube Juventude players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Living people Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Footballers from Minas Gerais Olympic footballers for Brazil Olympic medalists in football Olympic silver medalists for Brazil Serie A players Serie B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen