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Cha Bum-kun (Korean: 차범근; Korean pronunciation: [tɕʰɐbʌmɡɯn] or [tɕʰɐ] [pʌmɡɯn]; born 22 May 1953) is a South Korean former football manager and player. A forward, he was nicknamed Tscha Bum or "Cha Boom" in Germany because of his name and thunderous ball striking ability.[5] He showed explosive pace and powerful shots with his thick thighs.[6][7] He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time.[8][9][10]

Quick Facts Personal information, Date of birth ...
Cha Bum-kun
Cha in 1979
Personal information
Date of birth (1953-05-22) 22 May 1953 (age 71)
Place of birth Hwaseong, South Korea
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1967–1968[2] Kyungshin Middle School [ko]
1969–1971 Kyungshin High School [ko]
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1975 Korea University [ko]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1976 Korea Trust Bank [ko]
1976–1979 ROK Air Force (draft)
1978–1979 Darmstadt 98 1 (0)
1979–1983 Eintracht Frankfurt 122 (46)
1983–1989 Bayer Leverkusen 185 (52)
Total 308 (98)
International career
1970–1972 South Korea U20
1972–1986 South Korea 130 (56)
Managerial career
1991–1994 Hyundai Horang-i
1997–1998 South Korea
1998–1999 Shenzhen Ping'an
2004–2010 Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Medal record
Representing  South Korea
Men's football
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1978 BangkokTeam
AFC Asian Cup
Silver medal – second place1972 ThailandTeam
AFC Youth Championship
Silver medal – second place1971 JapanTeam[3]
Silver medal – second place1972 ThailandTeam[4]
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
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Quick Facts Hangul, Hanja ...
Korean name
Hangul
차범근
Hanja
Revised RomanizationCha Beom-geun
McCune–ReischauerCh'a Pŏmgŭn
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In 1972, Cha had been capped for the South Korea national team as the youngest player of the time at the age of 18. He is the youngest player to ever reach 100 international caps in the world at 24 years and 35 days,[note 1] and the all-time leading goalscorer of the South Korean national team with 58 goals. After dominating Asian competitions including the 1978 Asian Games, he left for West Germany and played for Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen. He scored a total of 121 goals in two Bundesliga clubs, and won the UEFA Cup with each team.[13]

After his retirement, he opened a football academy to develop youth players in South Korea, and managed the national team for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

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Early life

Cha was born in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. He originally joined Yeongdo Middle School to learn football, but the school's football club was dissolved as soon as he joined there. He started his football career by transferring to Kyungshin Middle School after playing field hockey for Yeongdo for one and a half years. In his high school days, he tried to leave school due to older students' violence, but continued to play football with the manager Chang Woon-soo's help.[2] He became a notable player of Kyungshin High School, and was selected for the South Korean under-20 team in 1970.

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Club career

Career in South Korea

Cha entered Korea University in 1972, and won the Korean National Championship in 1974, the predecessor of the Korean FA Cup.[14] After his graduation, he started his senior career with Korea Trust Bank FC in 1976. He led his team to the title and was named the best player in the spring season of the Korean Semi-professional League.[15] In October 1976, he joined Air Force FC to serve his mandatory military service.[16] Cha originally had a plan to enlist in the Navy FC, but the ROK Air Force persuaded him that it would move his discharge up by six months.[17]

Darmstadt 98

While playing for the national team in the 1978 Korea Cup, Cha attracted the attention of an Eintracht Frankfurt coach Dieter Schulte, who had received an invitation to serve as an scout/observer at that tournament. In November 1978, Schulte sent a letter to the KFA (Korea Football Association), suggesting Cha's tryout in West Germany, who would be discharged from the ROK Air Force in January 1979.[17] Cha had taken time off to leave for Frankfurt after the 1978 Asian Games in December and succeeded to contract with another Bundesliga club Darmstadt 98 by signing a six-month deal.[17] However, he spent just less than a month in Darmstadt. The ROK Air Force didn't follow the contract with Cha, and ordered his return. After his debut match against VfL Bochum on 30 December, Cha returned to South Korea due to his complicated issue about military service on 5 January. He eventually spent the remainder of the duration of his military service until 31 May, and so could not play for Darmstadt.[18]

Eintracht Frankfurt

After being discharged from the military service completely, Cha still wanted to play in Bundesliga, and joined Eintracht Frankfurt at age 26 in July 1979. He scored in three consecutive games from third to fifth matchday of the Bundesliga, making an immediate impact early in his new club.[19] After the first half of his first season in Germany, he was classified as world class in the player rankings [de] of kicker, a notable German football magazine.[20] He was also acclaimed by showing great performances helping Eintracht to win its first-ever UEFA Cup title. He was evaluated as the "unstoppable player" by Sir Alex Ferguson,[9][21][22] (Aberdeen's manager at the time) and "one of the best attackers in the world" by Lothar Matthäus[9][23] (an opponent player at the UEFA Cup Final and the Bundesliga). In addition to a UEFA Cup title, he was named along with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Kevin Keegan in the Bundesliga Team of the Season by kicker.[24] On 23 August 1980, Cha's spine had been cracked by Jürgen Gelsdorf, who had tackled behind him, but came back to the stadium after a month.[22][25] Afterwards, he scored six goals in six matches of the 1980–81 DFB-Pokal, leading Eintracht to the title. He became Eintracht's top goalscorer for three consecutive seasons.[26]

Bayer Leverkusen

However, Cha transferred to Bayer Leverkusen due to a financial difficulty of Frankfurt in 1983.[22] In the 1985–86 Bundesliga, he scored his most goals in a single Bundesliga season with 17 goals, and Leverkusen qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time as the sixth-placed team.[27] The magazine kicker once again selected him for the Team of the Season.[28] In the 1988 UEFA Cup Final, he scored a dramatic equaliser against Espanyol to tie the game 3–3. Leverkusen eventually went on to win the game on penalties, holding its first European title.[22]

Cha retired in 1989 after playing 308 Bundesliga games as a fair player. During his Bundesliga career, he scored 98 goals without a penalty, and received only one yellow card.[13] On 31 October 1987, he scored his 93rd Bundesliga goal, becoming the top foreign goalscorer by surpassing Willi Lippens.[29] His scoring record wasn't broken for eleven years until Stéphane Chapuisat scored more goals than him.[30] As of 2024, Cha is ranked ninth along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Bundesliga's foreign goalscorer standings.[30]

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International career

Thumb
Cha with Park Lee-chun and Kim Jae-han playing for South Korea in the early 1970s.

Cha generally played the Bundesliga games as a striker, but he had originally been a winger in South Korea.[31] He became a South Korean under-20 international in 1970, and took part in the AFC Youth Championship in 1971 and 1972.[3][4] In the 1972 AFC Asian Cup, he made his senior international debut against Iraq, and scored his first international goal against Khmer Republic.[1] He was named in the Korean FA Best XI for seven consecutive years, and was selected as the Korean FA Player of the Year in 1973.[32]

Cha usually played for the national team in the Korea Cup, Pestabola Merdeka and King's Cup, which were annually contested between Asian nations and the invited clubs at the time. He won a total of ten trophies and also left memorable games in three competitions.[1] In the 1975 Pestabola Merdeka, he scored his first international hat-trick against Japan.[1] In the 1976 Korea Cup, he scored a hat-trick against Malaysia during five minutes from 83rd to 88th minute, leading South Korea to a dramatic 4–4 draw.[33]

In the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification, he played all of South Korea's twelve matches, and recorded five goals and two assists,[34][35] although his knee got a boil during the competition.[36] However, South Korea failed to qualify for the World Cup by finishing the qualification as runners-up despite his struggle.

In the 1978 Asian Games, he scored two goals and provided two assists, contributing to team's gold medal.[37][38] However, he showed lethargic plays to prepare tryouts for Bundesliga clubs, and received criticisms.[39] After the 1978 Asian Games, he left for the Bundesliga and didn't play for South Korea. His last international tournament was the 1986 FIFA World Cup, South Korea's first World Cup since 1954. He showed exemplary performance in intensive checks by opponents,[40][41] but failed to prevent South Korea's elimination in the group stage.

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Managerial career

Cha moved into management with K League side Hyundai Horang-i, coaching them from 1991–94. 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 KFA for the bad performance, citing lack of bonuses and alleging pro soccer games in Korea were fixed. The association 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 in Korea. He returned to coaching in late 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 the UEFA Cup he won as a player in 1988. He later resigned in June 2010 as Suwon manager.

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Personal life

Cha is a devout Christian and said the faith is one of his three biggest values along with family and football.[42]

Cha's second child, Cha Du-ri, also played for the South Korean national team and Bundesliga clubs, among them Eintracht, following in his father's footsteps.

In November 2019, Cha received the Cross of Merit from the German government.[43]

Career statistics

Club

More information Club, Season ...
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[13]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Korea Trust Bank 1976Semipro League???[a]??[b]???
ROK Air Force (draft) 1976Semipro League???[a]??[b]???
1977Semipro League???[a]??[b]???
1978Semipro League???[a]??[b]???
1979Semipro League???[a]??[b]???
Total????????
Darmstadt 98 1978–79Bundesliga1010
Eintracht Frankfurt 1979–80Bundesliga31124011[c]34615
1980–81Bundesliga278665[c]23816
1981–82Bundesliga3111106[d]13812
1982–83Bundesliga3315103415
Total 1224612622615658
Bayer Leverkusen 1983–84Bundesliga3412103512
1984–85Bundesliga2910343214
1985–86Bundesliga3417423819
1986–87Bundesliga336213[c]2389
1987–88Bundesliga2540010[c]2356
1988–89Bundesliga303502[c]0373
Total 1855215715421563
Career total 3089827133710??372121
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  1. Appearance(s) in Korean President's Cup
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

International

As of 8 July 2020

The KFA is showing the list of Cha's 136 international appearances in its official website.[1] The RSSSF is also claiming 136 appearances about Cha's international career, but its details have some discrepancies.[12] FIFA registered him with 130 appearances in the FIFA Century Club by excluding six matches in the Summer Olympics qualification.[44]

More information National team, Year ...
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
South Korea 1972236
1973178
1974132
1975189
19761411
19772615
1978165
198630
Career total13056
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More information Competition, Apps ...
Appearances and goals by competition
CompetitionAppsGoals
Friendlies102
Minor competitions7644
Asian Games122
AFC Asian Cup qualification40
AFC Asian Cup51
Summer Olympics qualification62
FIFA World Cup qualification207
FIFA World Cup30
Total13658
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  • Scores list South Korea's goal tally first.[1][12]
    More information No., Date ...
    No.DateVenue CapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
    List of international goals scored by Cha Bum-kun
    110 May 1972National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 2 Khmer Republic3–04–11972 AFC Asian Cup
    219 July 1972Perak Stadium, Ipoh, Malaysia 8 Singapore2–04–11972 Pestabola Merdeka
    323 July 1972Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 9 Indonesia2–02–01972 Pestabola Merdeka
    429 July 1972Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 11 Malaysia2–02–11972 Pestabola Merdeka
    520 September 1972Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 13 Thailand3–03–01972 Korea Cup
    622 November 1972National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 21 Indonesia1–11–11972 King's Cup
    719 May 1973Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 24 Thailand2–04–01974 FIFA World Cup qualification
    828 May 1973Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 28 Israel1–01–01974 FIFA World Cup qualification
    922 September 1973Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 30 Khmer Republic2–06–01973 Korea Cup
    104–0
    1130 September 1973Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 33 Malaysia1–02–01973 Korea Cup
    1216 December 1973National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 37 Khmer Republic4–05–01973 King's Cup
    1322 December 1973National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 39 Burma2–02–01973 King's Cup
    1425 December 1973National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 40 Malaysia2–02–11973 King's Cup
    1518 May 1974Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 43 Burma2–03–01974 Korea Cup
    1625 December 1974Hong Kong 54 Indonesia2–03–1Hong Kong Tournament
    1729 July 1975Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 58 Malaysia2–03–11975 Pestabola Merdeka [ms]
    187 August 1975Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 61 Thailand3–06–01975 Pestabola Merdeka
    199 August 1975Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 62 Japan1–03–11975 Pestabola Merdeka
    202–1
    213–1
    2211 August 1975Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 63 Indonesia1–05–11975 Pestabola Merdeka
    2315 August 1975Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 64 Bangladesh4–04–01975 Pestabola Merdeka
    2421 December 1975National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 68 Burma1–03–11975 King's Cup
    252–0
    266 March 1976Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 73 Republic of China1–03–01976 Summer Olympics qualification
    2727 March 1976Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 75 Japan2–12–21976 Summer Olympics qualification
    2810 August 1976Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 79 India1–08–01976 Pestabola Merdeka [ms]
    295–0
    308–0
    3115 August 1976Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 81 Burma2–22–21976 Pestabola Merdeka
    3211 September 1976Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 84 Malaysia2–44–41976 Korea Cup
    333–4
    344–4
    3513 September 1976Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 85 India4–04–01976 Korea Cup
    3617 September 1976Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 86 Singapore1–07–01976 Korea Cup
    377–0
    3822 December 1976National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 91 Malaysia1–11–11976 King's Cup
    3914 February 1977Singapore 92 Singapore1–04–0Friendly
    4018 February 1977Al Ahli Stadium, Manama, Bahrain 93 Bahrain2–04–1Friendly
    4120 March 1977Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 96 Israel1–03–11978 FIFA World Cup qualification
    423 April 1977Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 98 Japan1–01–01978 FIFA World Cup qualification
    4326 June 1977Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong 100 Hong Kong1–01–01978 FIFA World Cup qualification
    4417 July 1977Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 102 Libya2–04–01977 Pestabola Merdeka [ms]
    4522 July 1977Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 104 Indonesia3–15–11977 Pestabola Merdeka
    4624 July 1977Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 105 Burma2–04–01977 Pestabola Merdeka
    4731 July 1977Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 108 Iraq1–01–01977 Pestabola Merdeka
    4827 August 1977Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, Australia 109 Australia1–01–21978 FIFA World Cup qualification
    493 September 1977Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 110 Thailand3–05–11977 Korea Cup
    505 September 1977Daegu Civic Stadium, Daegu, South Korea 111 India1–03–01977 Korea Cup
    513–0
    5213 September 1977Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 112 Malaysia2–03–01977 Korea Cup
    535 November 1977Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium,[45] Kuwait City, Kuwait 115 Kuwait1–02–21978 FIFA World Cup qualification
    5419 July 1978Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 121 Japan2–04–01978 Pestabola Merdeka [ms]
    5522 July 1978Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 122 Iraq2–02–01978 Pestabola Merdeka
    5625 July 1978Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 123 Indonesia1–02–01978 Pestabola Merdeka
    5711 December 1978Chulalongkorn University Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 127 Bahrain3–05–11978 Asian Games
    5817 December 1978Bangkok, Thailand 130 China1–01–01978 Asian Games
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    Honours

    Player

    Korea University

    Korea Trust Bank

    ROK Air Force

    Eintracht Frankfurt

    Bayer Leverkusen

    South Korea U20

    South Korea

    Individual

    Records

    Manager

    Hyundai Horang-i

    Suwon Samsung Bluewings

    Individual

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    See also

    Notes

    1. In 2013, FIFA had introduced Cha as the youngest player to accumulate 100 caps at 24 years and 139 days.[11] Afterwards, his record was shortened to 24 years and 35 days according to the list of his caps updated recently,[12] and can be seen as 24 years and 65 days when excluding Olympic qualifiers by the rule of FIFA.

    References

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