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
1976–1978	Korean Air Force (Army)
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
Honours Competitor for  South Korea Men's football Asian Games Gold 1978 Bangkok Team
* 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.

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."

• 2 June: Argentina 3–1 South Korea
• 5 June: Bulgaria 1–1 South Korea
• 10 June: Italy 3–2 South Korea

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 struggled in Germany and was converted from forward to defender, and now plays for FC Celtic of Scotland.

Honours

Club

Eintracht Frankfurt

• UEFA Cup: 1979–80
• DFB-Pokal: 1980–81

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

• UEFA Cup: 1987–88

International

South Korea

• Asian Games: 1978
• Merdeka Cup: 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978

Individual

• He was voted Asia's Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics in 1999.

Managerial

Suwon Samsung Bluewings F.C.

• K-League: 2004, 2008
• FA Cup: 2009
• Super Cup: 2005
• Hauzen Cup: 2005, 2008
• A3 Champions Cup: 2005
• Pan-Pacific Championship: 2009

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

• 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 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 3 March 2011, Cha is ranked fifth in the category after Claudio Pizarro's 137, Giovane Élber's 133, 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 55 goals in international A matches.

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. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ "Bum-Kun Cha - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/cha-intl.html. Retrieved 3 March 2011. 

External links

• Cha Bum-Kun – FIFA competition record
• Cha Bum-Kun at National-Football-Teams.com
• International Appearances & Goals

Persondata
Name	Cha, Bum-Kun
Alternative names
Short description	South Korean footballer
Date of birth	22 May 1953
Place of birth	Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Date of death
Place of death