Playing position Role Football player Height 1.79 m Children Cha Du-ri | Years Team Weight 79 kg Grandchildren Cha A-in, Cha A-il Name Cha Bum-kun Spouse Oh Eun-mi | |
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Date of birth (1953-05-22) 22 May 1953 (age 62) 1976 Seoul Trust Bank FC (semi-professional) | ||
Cha bum kun
Cha Bum-kun (Hangul: 차범근; [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.
Contents
- Cha bum kun
- Cha bum kun an asian football pioneer
- Club career
- International career
- Managerial career
- Personal life
- Legacy
- Records
- Club
- International
- Individual
- Managerial
- International goals
- References
Cha bum kun an asian football pioneer
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.
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.
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), 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.
He played at the 1972 Asian Cup where he scored a goal and reached the final before the team lost 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 0–0 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 duty but was convinced to come back to the team for the tournament. South Korea lost to Argentina and Italy but earned a draw against Bulgaria. The opposing teams were fully aware of Cha's scoring abilities and frustrated him by marking him with two defenders at all times. He did not score any goals in the tournament. Looking back, he recalled: "We didn't achieve our first win but the campaign was not disappointing as we played hard and well against the best teams in the world, including the eventual champions Argentina." Cha retired from international football permanently 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 list the three most important things in his life as 'family, religion and football'. Bum-Kun's second child, Cha Du-ri, followed in his father's footsteps. The younger Cha played in Germany and was converted from forward to defender and 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.