Cha Bum-Kun

This is a Korean name; the family name is Cha.
Cha Bum-Kun
Personal information
Date of birth 22 May 1953 (1953-05-22) (age 58)
Place of birth Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker/Winger)
Youth career
1972–1975 Korea University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1976 Korea Trust Bank FC (Semi-professional)
1976–1978 Air Force FC (Military service)
1978–1979 SV Darmstadt 98 1 (0)
1979–1983 Eintracht Frankfurt 122 (46)
1983–1989 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 185 (52)
Total 308 (98)
National team
1972–1986 South Korea 121 (55)
Teams managed
1991–1994 Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
1997–1998 South Korea
1998–1999 Shenzhen Ping'an
2003–2010 Suwon Samsung Bluewings
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
Korean name
Hangul 차범근
Hanja 車範根
Revised Romanization Cha Beom-geun
McCune–Reischauer Ch'a Pŏmgŭn

Cha Bum-Kun (born 22 May 1953 in Hwaseong, South Korea) 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. 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 121 times, scoring 55 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

Biography

Born in Hwaseong in the South Korean province of Gyeonggi, Cha Bum-Kun began his football career with the South Korean Air Force club in 1971, the same year he became a Korean U-19 international. 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 soccer clinics. He coached the national team in the 1998 World Cup and also Ulsan Hyundai and Suwon Samsung of the K-League.

Club career

Cha started his career in the Bundesliga at age 25. In December 1978, he was transferred to SV Darmstadt, where he spent less than a year before being snapped up by Eintracht Frankfurt. 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. He was widely considered one of the best forwards in the Bundesliga throughout his career. He became the third-highest-paid soccer player in Germany. In the 1981 season, in a game against Leverkusen, he suffered a near career-ending knee injury.

In 1983 he was transferred to Bayer Leverkusen. He won a second UEFA Cup with them in 1988. Cha scored a dramatic equalizer against Espanyol to tie the game 3–3. Leverkusen eventually went on to win the game on penalties.

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 was part of the South Korean national team of the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals, in Mexico, where they 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."

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 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'.[1] Bum-Kun's second child, Cha Du-Ri, is following in his father's footsteps. The younger Cha played in Germany and was converted from forward to defender, and now plays for Celtic.

Honours

Club

Eintracht Frankfurt

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

International

South Korea

Individual

Managerial

Suwon Samsung Bluewings F.C.

Career statistics

Domestic League

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Germany League DFB-Pokal Premiere Ligapokal Europe Total
1978–79 Darmstadt 98 Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 - - 1 0
1979–80 Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga 31 12 4 0 - 11 3 46 15
1980–81 27 8 6 6 - 5 2 38 16
1981–82 31 11 1 0 - 6 1 38 12
1982–83 33 15 1 0 - - 34 15
1983–84 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 34 12 - -
1984–85 29 10 - -
1985–86 34 17 2 - - 19
1986–87 33 6 - 3 2
1987–88 25 4 - 10 2
1988–89 30 3 - 2 0
Total Germany 308 98 - 37 10
Career total 308 98 12 8 - 37 20 357 126

National team

[2]

South Korea national team
Year Apps Goals
1972 21 7
1973 17 7
1974 13 2
1975 15 9
1976 14 11
1977 24 14
1978 14 5
1979 0 0
1980 0 0
1981 0 0
1982 0 0
1983 0 0
1984 0 0
1985 0 0
1986 3 0
Total 121 55

International goals

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

Records

References

  1. ^ "‘Cha Boom!’Cha Bum-kun's success was not only limited in Germany". http://www.maxell.co.jp/love-soccer/en/Cha_Bum_kun.html. 
  2. ^ "Bum-Kun Cha - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/cha-intl.html. Retrieved 3 March 2011. 

External links

Korea Football Association Footballer of the Year