Hasan Şaş leaves Galatasaray short
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Article summary
Galatasaray AŞ midfielder Hasan Şaş is likely to be out of action until 2009 – and is therefore set to miss the entire UEFA Cup group stage – after undergoing surgery for a cruciate ligament problem in his right knee.
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Recurring problem
The 32-year-old winger had been ruled out of the 5 October game against Bursaspor with swelling to the knee but later resumed training. However, the injury flared up again in the final session before the weekend fixture against Trabzonspor and this time scans indicated that surgery would be required. Hasan Şaş has been used as a makeshift right-back for Galatasaray this season due to other injuries and is now likely to miss the whole of his side's UEFA Cup group stage campaign, starting with Thursday's home fixture against Greek champions Olympiacos CFP.
Kutlu quits
Elsewhere in Turkey, Hakan Kutlu has resigned as coach of MKE Ankaragücü following a 3-0 loss to Sivasspor at the weekend. The 36-year-old replaced German coach Hans-Peter Briegel following his resignation in October 2007, and led his side to an eighth-placed finish last season. However, things did not go as expected this season and they are third from bottom after seven games having won just once all season. Former coach Hikmet Karaman is expected to be named as Kutlu's replacement.