In the late nineties and the beginning of zero in football there was a rather impressive generation of Turkish players. One of them was Hassan Shash - a flank midfielder who devoted almost his entire professional career to the Turkish Galatasaray. He became a true legend of this club, and also spent many matches for the Turkish national team. How did this football player's career develop? What could he achieve? Has Hassan Shash permanently tied to football or is he still involved in this area? You will learn all this from this article.
Carier start
Hassan Shash was born in August 1976 in Turkey, where he quickly began to progress in football. As a result, he ended up at the academy of the Demirspor club, which became his first job. In 1994, when Hassan was eighteen years old, he was offered a professional contract, which he signed without hesitation. However, the young midfielder had no place at the base, so after the season, it was decided to let him go to another club, Ankaragucu. The fact is that in “Demirspor” for the whole year he played only three matches, and the guy was clearly talented. Therefore, Hassan Shash in the new club received a real chance to show himself, to demonstrate to the whole world what he stands for - and he coped with this task perfectly.
The heyday of Ankaragucu
Hassan Shash is a footballer who could have remained at a lower level, his talent might not have been revealed, but fate has developed in such a way that the 19-year-old guy pretty quickly began to get game practice in the new club. Already in the first season he played 19 matches and scored his debut goal. It was then that the leadership considered a deserving football player in him, so in his second season he played 29 matches. At the same time, being a flank midfielder, he managed to score six goals, which impressed both fans and scouts of other clubs. Even then, Shash began to show serious interest. In his third season for Ankaragucu, Hassan had already become 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 that 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 young talent - impressive money for those times. The management of the Ankaragucu club did not refuse - so they were able to earn a decent amount and give the young talent to develop already at the highest level. So Shash in 1998 at the age of 22 turned out to be in “Galatasaray”.
Club for life
So, Hassan moved to Galatasaray - the football club paid decent money for him, so they immediately began to wait for a 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 the years 2000 and 2001, when Galatasaray and Shash got to unprecedented heights in the European arena - in 2000 the club even managed to take the UEFA Cup. This was the heyday of Turkish football, and Hassan Shash, whose biography was gaining momentum, was one of the key figures. In total, he spent 11 years at Galatasaray, having played 307 matches and scored 32 goals. Even in the early 2000s, the club received offers from real giants such as Milan and Arsenal who wanted to acquire a talented Turk, but Galatasaray always refused. And Shash himself was in no hurry to leave his favorite team, with 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.
Team appearances
Hassan Shash became one of the key figures of his time for Turkish football - for the Turkish national team he made his debut in 1998 in the qualifying match for the European Championship 2000 against the Finnish national team - then he came out at the end of the match for a seven-minute substitution. He didn’t go directly to the European Championship, but the 2002 World Championship, which became his debut for Shasha, turned out to be extremely happy for the Turks. They achieved an incredible result - they took third place, losing in the semifinals of Brazil. Hassan spent all the matches at the tournament and played one of the most important roles - at 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 Championship or the World Cup. That World Cup was for Shasha the first and last major tournament. He held his farewell match for the national team in March 2006 - it was a friendly match with the Czech national team, which ended in a goalless draw with a score of 2: 2. One interesting fact regarding Shash’s appearances for the national team is that in 2002 there was a rumor that Hassan should have played for the Russian national team, since his parents were Circassians, and accordingly, people concluded: Hassan Shash is a Circassian. However, even then, these rumors were dispelled, as representatives of the Turkish national team confidently stated that there were no Circassians.
Achievements
During his career, Hassan Shash has won many prizes - naturally, all of them went to him in Galatasaray. Five victories in the Turkish Championship, three victories in the Turkish Cup, as well as a win in the UEFA Cup, which was mentioned above - all this the legendary Turk gathered in his arsenal. Moreover, it is worth noting that the success of the Turkish national team in 2002 was largely shaped by Shash, since he was in the symbolic team of the tournament.
Coaching
A couple of years after Hassan Shash completed his player’s career, he decided to become a coach. To begin with, he planned to gain experience with more eminent mentors, so in 2011 he became an assistant coach at Galatasaray. There he spent two years and assisted three coaches in nearly a hundred matches. But in October 2013, he left his post, never finding a new vocation on the coaching bridge.