Hassan finally firing on all cylinders
In the early stages of the season, Egyptian forward Ahmed Hassan required time to settle in at Olympiacos, but he has enjoyed a brilliant start to 2019.
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Last summer, Hassan made the move to Olympiacos on loan from SC Braga, but he struggled to make an impression in the first half of the current campaign. While his effort wasn’t coming into question, the tall 25-year-old was proving to be rather profligate when presented with opportunities, notably missing a plethora of chances in a crucial 0:1 home defeat to PAOK in the Super League. Rumours even suggested Olympiacos were considering sending him back to Braga in the January transfer window.
However, since the turn of the year, Hassan has suddenly transformed into a prolific, ruthless forward. In 2019, the Egyptian international has scored a large nine goals across all competitions, including a hat-trick in a 5:1 rout of OFI in the Super League and one marker in the doomed UEFA Europa League Round of 32 tie against Dynamo Kyiv. On Monday, Hassan was involved in both of Olympiacos’ goals in the 2:0 win over Apollon Smyrnis in Rizoupoli, pressurising Giannis Stathis into scoring an own-goal before he himself netted the second marker with a powerful shot at point blank range. Hassan has consequently become Pedro Martins’ starting striker ahead of Miguel Angel Guerrero.
Boasting an overall total of 12 goals this season, Hassan is enjoying his most productive season since the 2015/2016 campaign, in which he registered 15 goals in 46 matches for Braga.
Upon the conclusion of the current season, he is due to return to parent club Braga, but Olympiacos are eager to keep Hassan in Piraeus and it’s expected the Thrylos will manage to make his transfer permanent. At times, Hassan’s finishing skills still do let him down to a degree, but his confidence is visibly growing as the level of trust from boss Martins rapidly increases. Chemistry with diminutive Portuguese wizard Daniel Podence has also been standing out on a regular basis, with the two often combining to put together intelligent, dangerous plays. The technically gifted Podence notably assisted Hassan’s two recent goals against AEK and Apollon Smyrnis.
In recognition of his impressive scoring rate in 2019, Hassan has received a call-up to the Egyptian national team for an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Niger (March 23) and a friendly with Nigeria (March 26), and it’s a real opportunity to assert his authority at international level. Mohamed Salah and Atromitos’ Amr Warda haven’t been summoned by Egyptian head coach Javier Aguirre, but given that the country has already qualified for the African Cup of Nations, their absences can be accounted for.
