Hasan Shash - the legend of "Galatasaray"

In the late nineties and early zero in football there was quite an impressive generation of Turkish players. One of them was Hasan Shash, a flanking midfielder who gave up his entire professional career to the Turkish Galatasaray. He became a true legend of this club, and also spent many matches for the national team of Turkey. How did the career of this player develop? What could he achieve? Has Hasan Shash tied up football completely or is he still involved in this sphere? All this you will learn from this article.

Carier start

Hasan Shash was born in August 1976 in Turkey, where he quickly began to progress in football. As a result, he was in the academy of the club "Demirspor", which became his first job. In 1994, when Hasan was eighteen, he was offered a professional contract, which he signed without hesitation. However, the young midfielder did not have a place in the base, so after the end of the season it was decided to release him to another club, "Ankaragucu". The fact is that in Demirpore for the whole year he played only three matches, and the guy was clearly talented. Therefore, Hasan Shash in the new club got a real chance to show himself, to show the world what he's worth - and he coped with this task perfectly.

Blossoming in Ankaragucu

Hasan Shash, a footballer who could have stayed at the lowest level, could not reveal his talent, but the fate developed in such a way that in a new club a 19-year-old boy quickly began to receive a game practice. Already in the first season he played 19 matches and scored his debut goal. It was then that the leadership considered a deserving player in it, so in his second season he played 29 games already. At the same time, being a flanking midfielder, he managed to score six goals, which greatly impressed both fans and scouts of other clubs. Even then, serious interest began to manifest towards Shash. In his third season for Ankaragucu, Hasan already became an indispensable and key player, and it was then that the club received an offer that he could not refuse. "Galatasaray" is a football club, which is one of the strongest in Turkey, and in those days it was also a club that everyone had to reckon with in the European arena. "Galatasaray" offered five million euros for the young talent - impressive for that time money. The leadership of the club "Ankaragucu" did not refuse - so they could earn a decent amount, and give young talent to develop at the highest level. So Shash in 1998 at the age of 22 years was in the "Galatasaray."

Club for life

So, Hasan moved to "Galatasaray" - the football club paid a decent price for it, so they immediately began to wait for the result. And he immediately began to demonstrate it. In the first season, the midfielder played thirty matches, scoring four goals in them. In subsequent seasons he continued to perform at the highest level - especially the fans remembered 2000 and 2001, when Galatasaray together with Shash reached unprecedented heights in the European arena - in 2000 the club even managed to take the UEFA Cup. This was the era of the heyday of Turkish football, and Hassan Shash, whose biography was gaining momentum, was one of the key figures. In Galatasaray he spent 11 years playing 307 matches and scoring 32 goals. At the beginning of zero, the club received offers from real giants such as Milan and Arsenal, who wanted to acquire a talented Turk, but Galatasaray always refused. Yes, and Shash himself was not in a hurry to leave his favorite team, which he said goodbye only in 2009. And even then he did not change the club - at the age of 33 the Turkish midfielder completed his football career.

Performances in the national team

Hasan Shash became one of the key figures of his time for Turkish football - for the national team of Turkey he made his debut in 1998 in the match of the qualifying round for the European Championship 2000 against the national team of Finland - then he went to the end of the match for a substitution of seven minutes. He did not go directly to the European Championship itself, but here the 2002 World Championship, which became Shash's debut, proved to be extremely happy for the Turks. They achieved an incredible result - they took the third place, losing in the semi-final of Brazil. All matches in the tournament Hassan played at the base and played one of the most important roles - in the group stage he scored two goals and gave three assists. It was a benefit of both the player and the whole team - after all after that Turkey for a long time could not even qualify for the European Championships or the World Cup. That World Cup was for Shash the first and last major tournament. His farewell match for the team he held in March 2006 - it was a friendly match with the Czech team, which ended in a draw with a score of 2: 2. One interesting fact about Shash's performances for the national team is that in 2002 there was a rumor that Hasan had to play for the Russian national team, since his parents were Circassians, respectively, people concluded: Hassan Shash is a Circassian. However, even then, these rumors were dispelled, as representatives of the Turkish team confidently stated that the Circassians do not.

Achievements

During his career, Hasan Shash won a lot of prizes - naturally, they all got him in the "Galatasaray". Five wins in the Championship of Turkey, three wins in the Cup of Turkey, as well as a win in the UEFA Cup, which was mentioned above - all this is the legendary Turks collected in its arsenal. Moreover, it should be noted that the success of the Turkish national team in 2002 was largely shaped by Shash, since he got into the symbolic national team of the tournament.

Coaching activities

A couple of years after Hasan Shash completed his career as a player, he decided to become a coach. To begin with, he planned to gain experience from more eminent mentors, so in 2011 he became an assistant coach in the Galatasaray. There he spent two years and assisted three coaches in almost a hundred matches. But in October 2013 he left his post, and not finding a new vocation on the coaching bridge.