Most Toronto FC fans fondly remember the name Gabe Gala with the first thing coming to mind being Toronto FC’s goal against Real Madrid in 2009. Gabe played for Toronto FC from the inaugural 2007 season until the end of the 2010 season. In 2011 he played for the Canadian Soccer League’s Mississauga Eagles but for a couple of years after that he seemed to have fallen off the soccer radar. Today, Gabe is a real estate agent but is also still an active player with CSL side Scarborough SC. We recently caught up with Gabe to learn more about his interesting story.

RedNation Online (RNO): Gabe, how are you? How are things coming in your career?

Gabe Gala: Hi Djuradj, I am very well, thanks for asking. My new career is going great as I’ve been able to achieve a lot of the goals I set out for myself when I started as well as make new goals and help a lot of people along the way. To put it simply, I decided to retire from professional soccer early because I felt there was way too much politics involved. At such a young age I was too passionate and I lacked the ability to be diplomatic in the right situations which caused me to lose out on a lot of opportunities. I do not however see this as a horrible thing because for me soccer was always something that I absolutely loved to play. And I still do. But once I realized that in professional soccer politics were always going to outweigh talent, I felt it was best for me to move on before I literally went crazy. I’m not sure if others would agree with my choice but unfortunately for me I’m driven so heavily by passion.

RNO: Toronto FC fans still fondly remember you and the famous goal against Real Madrid. How special was that?

Gabe Gala: It is completely humbling to hear you say that the fans still fondly remember me. It is very hard to put into words how special the goal against Real Madrid was. And I really can’t. Just imagine the greatest gift in the world someone can give someone else. Whether it be parents, friends, God… then think of them giving you that gift. That’s how it felt to score against Real Madrid.

RNO: How proud are you that you played at a professional level? Do you feel that you were given a fair chance?

Gabe Gala: I am very proud that I was able to play at a professional level and it will always give me a reason to smile when I wake up. Personally, I feel I was given as fair a shot as anyone else. My issue was not with the opportunities I was given but it was with whether or not I really wanted to have soccer as a profession or as something I just really loved. For me, it couldn’t be both.

RNO: When did you decide that you have a real shot at going pro?

Gabe Gala: I felt I had a real shot at playing pro when I was 17 years old and playing with the under-20s. We all knew there was a professional team about to be brought to the city and Mo Johnston (who was going to be the coach) had come to Florida to watch us play a game. Even though I came on at half, I knew if I could play well in this game and impress, as a youngster from Toronto, I’d have a real shot at playing for TFC. The rest was history.

RNO: You played for Canada at home in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. How much did that mean to you?

Gabe Gala: It was a great experience to represent Canada in the U-20 World Cup. To have been lucky enough to be a part of such a memorable time for Canada was truly a blessing.

RNO: Canada didn’t do as well as expected in that tournament?

Gabe Gala: It is somewhat hard to pinpoint an exact reason as to why the team did not do very well. I’d say that there was a bit of favouritism of certain players within the coaching staff which caused a large amount of indecision when line-ups were being chosen. As a result, we never really had our strongest players on the field all at one time which ultimately did not allow us to perform our best. Even during the tournament our team’s line-up was constantly changing.

RNO: What was it like playing for Dale Mitchell and what kind of a coach/person is he?

Gabe Gala: Playing for Dale was great in that – as one of the youngest players on the team – he gave me an opportunity to show my abilities which I am very thankful for. As a coach/person I think in the past he has been given a bad rap. There are a lot of politics involved in international soccer/professional soccer and I think Dale just wasn’t the greatest politician. But as a coach and a person he was always fair and willing to speak to players one-on-one. He tried to help us young players the best he could.

RNO: You took a break from soccer in 2012 and 2013. Where are you at right now soccer-wise?

Gabe Gala: I would say that I do not miss soccer because I still get to play a decent level of soccer at least 4-5 times a week. Not making a big salary from soccer does not mean that I don’t get to still enjoy it. I did stop playing at the professional level in 2011. I never however stopped playing soccer. I am currently playing in the CSL with Scarborough SC and having a great time. Last year (2014), I played with the North York Astros and it was the first time in my career that I made it to the playoffs. It was the best time I’ve ever had playing this sport.