Cha Bum-kun

Cha Bum-kun
차범근

Cha Bum-kun, in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth	(1953-05-22) 22 May 1953
Place of birth	Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Forward/Winger
Youth career
1972–1975	Korea University
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1976	Seoul Trust Bank
1976–1979[1][2]	Sungmu FC (air force)
1978–1979	SV Darmstadt 98	1	(0)
1979–1983	Eintracht Frankfurt	122	(46)
1983–1989	Bayer Leverkusen	185	(52)
Total		308	(98)
National team
1970–1972	South Korea U20
1972–1986	South Korea	135[3]	(58)
Teams managed
1991–1994	Ulsan Hyundai
1997–1998	South Korea
1998–1999	Shenzhen Ping'an
2004–2010	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Honours Representing  South Korea Men's football Asian Games 1978 Bangkok Team AFC Asian Cup 1972 Thailand Team AFC Youth Championship 1971 Japan 1972 Thailand
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Cha Bum-kun (Hangul: 차범근; Korean pronunciation: [tɕʰa.bʌm.ɡɯn] or [tɕʰa] [pʌm.ɡɯn]; born 22 May 1953) is a South Korean football manager and former player, nicknamed Tscha Bum in Germany ("Cha Boom") because of his name and his thunderous ball striking ability. The nickname was first used by the German Kicker Magazine, which also named Cha as one of the greatest footballers of the 1980s. Cha was born in Hwaseong in the South Korean province of Gyeonggi. By 1972 he had been capped by the Korean national team as the youngest player in history called up to the squad. After developing into the top player in his country, Cha wanted to play in Germany's Bundesliga. Cha promised to learn skills in Germany and help Korea advance in football. He eventually rose to international stardom and fulfilled his promise by coming back to South Korea after his retirement and starting youth football clinics. He coached the national team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and also Ulsan Hyundai and Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the K League. In South Korea, Cha is greatly respected for his accomplishments in the Bundesliga and the South Korean national team. During his career, Cha has played for SV Darmstadt 98, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and represented his national side 135 times, scoring 58 goals. He was given the title Asia's Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. He is the all-time leading goal scorer for the South Korean national team.

Club career

Cha became famous when he was a Kyungshin High School FC player in 1970 and in the same year he became a Korean U-20 international. In 1972, Cha entered Korea University. After graduation, he started senior career with Seoul Trust Bank FC in 1976. In October 1976, he joined South Korean Air Force FC due to military service.^[4]

He attracted the attention of Friedel Rausch while playing for the national team and he began his career in the Bundesliga at age twenty-five, after he had completed the compulsory military training for all South Korean men. He was widely considered one of the best forwards in the Bundesliga throughout his career. In December 1978, he was transferred to SV Darmstadt 98, where he spent just less than a month before being snapped up by Eintracht Frankfurt. Due to Cha's complicated military service problem, after his debut match with VfL Bochum on 30 December 1978, Cha returned to South Korea on 5 January 1979 and he spent his spare military service duration until 31 May 1979 and didn't play for SV Darmstadt 98.^[5]

After being discharged from the military service completely, Cha joined Eintracht Frankfurt in July 1979. Cha made an immediate impact with his new club, scoring in three consecutive games. Frankfurt went on to win the UEFA Cup in the 1979–80 season and Cha was awarded Man of the Match in the final. He became the third-highest-paid footballer in Germany. In the 1981 season, he suffered a near career-ending knee injury in a game against Leverkusen, an incident that nearly led to a riot by Frankfurt fans. Cha recovered in time for the German Cup Final, where he scored a goal in Frankfurt's 3–1 victory. However, he would transfer to Bayer Leverkusen in 1983. He won a second UEFA Cup with them in 1988. Cha scored a dramatic equaliser against Espanyol to tie the game 3–3. Leverkusen eventually went on to win the game on penalties, their first major tournament victory.

Cha retired in 1989 after a long Bundesliga career spanning 308 games in which he scored 98 goals (none from penalty kicks),^[6] then the highest for a foreign player in the league. Over his 10-year career, he received only one yellow card.

International career

Cha became a Korean U-20 international in 1970. He participated in 1971 AFC Youth Championship and 1972 AFC Youth Championship.Cha made his debut for the senior national team when he was nineteen years old and still a student at Korea University in 1972.

In the 1972 Asian Cup, Cha scored a goal as South Korea reached the final before losing to Iran. He was part of the South Korean national team in the 1978 Asian Games, where the team jointly won the gold medal with North Korea due to the final ending in a scoreless draw. His last international tournament was the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals in Mexico, South Korea's first appearance since 1954. Cha had retired from international play but was persuaded to come back for the tournament. South Korea lost to Argentina and Italy but drew against Bulgaria. The opposing teams were fully aware of Cha's scoring abilities and frustrated him by putting two defenders on him at all times, and he went scoreless in the tournament. Looking back, he said, "We didn't achieve our first win but the campaign wasn't disappointing as we played hard and well against the best teams in the world, including the eventual champions Argentina." Cha retired from international football following the tournament.

Managerial career

Cha moved into management with K-League side Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i, coaching them from 1991–1994. His next appointment in January 1997 was Korean national team coach and he led the nation to the 1998 FIFA World Cup; however, a disastrous 5–0 defeat at the hands of The Netherlands in Korea's second group game got Cha fired. He later blamed the Korea Football Association for the bad performance, citing lack of bonuses and alleging pro soccer games in Korea were fixed. The KFA promptly slapped a five-year ban on him and he soon left the country with his wife.

After an 18-month spell coaching Shenzhen Ping'an in China, Cha took up a commentator position with MBC. He returned to coaching at the end of 2003 when offered the Suwon Samsung Bluewings position.

Cha achieved immediate success with Suwon by lifting the 2004 K-League championship, an achievement he ranked as even better than lifting the UEFA Cup as a player in 1988.

On 6 June 2010, he resigned as manager of Suwon.

Personal life

Cha is a devout Christian and said the three most important things in his life are "family, religion and football".^[7] Bum-Kun's second child, Cha Du-ri, followed in his father's footsteps. Du-ri played in Germany and switched positions from forward to defender. He retired in 2015 after two seasons with FC Seoul.

Legacy

Cha is widely considered to be the best South Korean footballer of all time, as well as the best Asian player. In light of this he was labelled Asia's Player of the Century for his breakthrough performances in the Bundesliga during a time when few Asians played in European leagues. He has since been considered one of the best players to play in the Bundesliga, and received praise from his peers. Alex Ferguson called him "unstoppable" following Aberdeen's loss to Frankfurt and Lothar Matthäus called him "the best attacker in the world" after Frankfurt's victory in the 1980 UEFA Cup Final.

Records

• Cha is the ninth player in history to win the UEFA Cup with different teams. Cha shares the record with reputable players such as Salvatore Schillaci, Radamel Falcao and Jürgen Klinsmann.
• Cha once held the Bundesliga record for the number of goals scored by a non-German player by surpassing predecessor Ente Lippens's record of 92 goals in 1988. In 1999, Swiss Stéphane Chapuisat broke Cha's 14-year-old Bundesliga record of 98 goals. As of September 2016, Cha is ranked sixth in the category after Claudio Pizarro's 167, Giovane Élber's 133, Robert Lewandowski's 128, Chapuisat's 106, and Aílton's 105 goals.
• Cha's record of 17 league goals in the 1985–86 season remains as the highest goal-tally achieved by an Asian player in Bundesliga history. The finest effort to date in attempt to match Cha's feat was delivered by Iranian striker Vahid Hashemian, who scored 16 goals during the 2003–04 season with Bochum.
• Cha is South Korea's all-time leading scorer with 58 goals in international A matches.

Honours

Career statistics

International goals

Scores list South Korea's goal tally first.^[19]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 May 1972	Bangkok, Thailand	Khmer Republic	4–1	Won	1972 AFC Asian Cup
2	19 July 1972	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Singapore	4–1	Won	Merdeka Cup
3	23 July 1972	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Indonesia	2–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
4	29 July 1972	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Malaysia	2–1	Won	Merdeka Cup
5	20 September 1972	Seoul, South Korea	Thailand	3–0	Won	President's Cup
6	22 November 1972	Bangkok, Thailand	Indonesia	1–1	Draw	King's Cup
7	19 May 1973	Seoul, South Korea	Thailand	4–0	Won	1974 FIFA World Cup Qual.
8	28 May 1973	Seoul, South Korea	Israel	1–0	Won	1974 FIFA World Cup Qual.
9	22 September 1973	Seoul, South Korea	Khmer Republic	6–0	Won	President's Cup
10	22 September 1973	Seoul, South Korea	Khmer Republic	6–0	Won	President's Cup
11	30 September 1973	Seoul, South Korea	Malaysia	2–0	Won	President's Cup
12	16 December 1973	Bangkok, Thailand	Khmer Republic	5–0	Won	King's Cup
13	22 December 1973	Bangkok, Thailand	Burma	2–0	Won	King's Cup
14	25 December 1973	Bangkok, Thailand	Malaysia	2–1	Won	King's Cup
15	18 May 1974	Seoul, South Korea	Burma	3–0	Won	President's Cup
16	25 December 1974	Hong Kong, United Kingdom	Indonesia	3–1	Won	Friendly match
17	29 July 1975	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Malaysia	3–1	Won	Merdeka Cup
18	7 August 1975	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Thailand	6–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
19	9 August 1975	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Japan	3–1	Won	Merdeka Cup
20	9 August 1975	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Japan	3–1	Won	Merdeka Cup
21	9 August 1975	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Japan	3–1	Won	Merdeka Cup
22	11 August 1975	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Indonesia	5–1	Won	Merdeka Cup
23	15 August 1975	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Bangladesh	4–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
24	21 December 1975	Bangkok, Thailand	Burma	3–1	Won	King's Cup
25	21 December 1975	Bangkok, Thailand	Burma	3–1	Won	King's Cup
26	6 March 1976	Seoul, South Korea	Chinese Taipei	3–0	Won	1976 Summer Olympics Qual.
27	27 March 1976	Seoul, South Korea	Japan	2–2	Won	1976 Summer Olympics Qual.
28	10 August 1976	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	India	8–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
29	10 August 1976	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	India	8–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
30	10 August 1976	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	India	8–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
31	15 August 1976	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Burma	2–2	Draw	Merdeka Cup
32	11 September 1976	Seoul, South Korea	Malaysia	4–4	Draw	President's Cup
33	11 September 1976	Seoul, South Korea	Malaysia	4–4	Draw	President's Cup
34	11 September 1976	Seoul, South Korea	Malaysia	4–4	Draw	President's Cup
35	13 September 1976	Seoul, South Korea	India	4–0	Won	President's Cup
36	17 September 1976	Seoul, South Korea	Singapore	7–0	Won	President's Cup
37	17 September 1976	Seoul, South Korea	Singapore	7–0	Won	President's Cup
38	22 December 1976	Bangkok, Thailand	Malaysia	1–1	Draw	King's Cup
39	14 February 1977	Singapore, Singapore	Singapore	4–0	Won	Friendly match
40	18 February 1977	Manama, Bahrain	Bahrain	4–1	Won	Friendly match
41	20 March 1977	Seoul, South Korea	Israel	3–1	Won	1978 FIFA World Cup Qual.
42	3 April 1977	Seoul, South Korea	Japan	1–0	Won	1978 FIFA World Cup Qual.
43	26 June 1977	Hong Kong, United Kingdom	Hong Kong	1–0	Won	1978 FIFA World Cup Qual.
44	17 July 1977	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Libya	4–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
45	22 July 1977	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Indonesia	5–1	Won	Merdeka Cup
46	24 July 1977	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Burma	4–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
47	31 July 1977	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Iraq	1–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
48	27 August 1977	Sydney, Australia	Australia	1–2	Lost	1978 FIFA World Cup Qual.
49	3 September 1977	Seoul, South Korea	Thailand	3–1	Won	President's Cup
50	5 September 1977	Busan, South Korea	India	3–0	Won	President's Cup
51	5 September 1977	Busan, South Korea	India	3–0	Won	President's Cup
52	13 September 1977	Seoul, South Korea	Malaysia	3–0	Won	President's Cup
53	5 November 1977	Kuwait City, Kuwait	Kuwait	2–2	Draw	1978 FIFA World Cup Qual.
54	19 July 1978	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Japan	4–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
55	22 July 1978	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Iraq	2–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
56	25 July 1978	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Indonesia	2–0	Won	Merdeka Cup
57	11 December 1978	Bangkok, Thailand	Bahrain	5–1	Won	1978 Asian Games
58	17 December 1978	Bangkok, Thailand	China PR	1–0	Won	1978 Asian Games

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cha Bum-Kun.

• Cha Bum-kun – FIFA competition record (archive)
• Cha Bum-kun – National Team Stats at KFA (in Korean)
• Cha Bum-kun at National-Football-Teams.com
• Cha Bum-kun at fussballdaten.de (in German)