Hasan Şaş

Hasan Şaş — Biography

Hasan Gökhan Şaş (born 1 August 1976 in Karataş, Adana) is a Turkish former international footballer, coach and television pundit. Standing 1.77 m, he is described in different sources as a winger and as an attacking midfielder.

He moved from Ankaragücü to Galatasaray in 1998 and spent the bulk of his career there, roughly eleven seasons. Azerbaijani Wikipedia credits him with 53 goals in 350 official matches for the club and a haul of five Turkish league titles, three domestic cups, one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup. His international record differs between sources: Bulgarian Wikipedia gives 40 caps and 2 goals, the Azerbaijani article 57 caps and 9 goals.

He was part of the Turkey side that finished third at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, was voted into the tournament's All-Star Team and scored against Brazil in the group stage. In 1998 he served a six-month suspension from football after a doping test returned a positive result for the banned substance phenylpropanolamine. After retiring he worked as an assistant coach at Galatasaray alongside Ümit Davala under manager Fatih Terim, and he now appears as a football commentator on television.