NSU soccer player Aly Hassan is training with the Hungarian soccer club Ferencvaros in Budapest. The opportunity, which began as a two-week trial with the team, was extended after Hassan was invited to travel to Croatia to participate in an additional 11-day training camp. Hassan said the switch from the college to professional level has been a challenging adjustment.
“It’s a very big difference from college soccer,” he said. “Speed of play, power, and just knowledge of the game is where the biggest gap lies. It’s not easy adjusting from college soccer to the professional level here in Europe, but I’ve been doing well. We’ll see what happens at the end of the training camp in Croatia.”
Hassan finished his fourth season with the NSU men’s soccer team last semester, accumulating 87 points on 36 goals scored. He was the fifth NSU player to mass at least 30 goals and 80 points in the history of the Sharks and was dubbed one of the best strikers in the men’s soccer team’s history by NSU athletic media reports. He also received National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-South Region honors and made the first team.
Hassan said he appreciated his experience at NSU.
“[I] liked the chemistry of the team at Nova,” he said. “[I] learned to stay positive no matter [the] circumstance.”