Cha Bum-kun

Cha Bum-kun (; or ; 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. Known for his explosive pace and finishing, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time.

In 1972, Cha was 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, (In 2013, when Cha's 121 international caps was being recognised, FIFA introduced him as the youngest player to accumulate 100 caps at 24 years and 139 days (vs.) Kuwait, 9 October 1977). Afterwards, his record was shortened to 24 years and 35 days (vs. Hong Kong, 26 June 1977) according to the list of his 136 caps updated recently, and can be seen as 24 years and 65 days (vs. Malaysia, 26 July 1977) when excluding six Olympic qualifiers by the rule of FIFA.

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.

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. 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 National Semipro League. In October 1976, he joined Air Force FC to serve his mandatory military service. 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.

Darmstadt 98 While playing for the national team in the 1978 Korea Cup, Cha attracted the attention of Eintracht Frankfurt coach , 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.

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. After the first half of his first season in Germany, he was classified as world class in the . 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 (Aberdeen's manager at the time), and "one of the best attackers in the world" by Lothar Matthäus (an opponent player at the UEFA Cup final and the Bundesliga, for Borussia Mönchengladbach). 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. On 23 August 1980, Cha's spine had been cracked by Jürgen Gelsdorf, who had tackled him from behind, but came back to the stadium after a month. 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.

Bayer Leverkusen However, Cha transferred to Bayer Leverkusen due to a financial difficulty of Frankfurt in 1983. The magazine kicker once again selected him for the Team of the Season, and the gave him the Player of the Season award. 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. His scoring record wasn't broken for eleven years until Stéphane Chapuisat scored more goals than him. As of 2024, Cha is ranked ninth along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Bundesliga's foreign goalscorer standings. He became a South Korean under-20 international in 1970, and took part in the AFC Youth Championship in 1971 and 1972.

Cha usually played for the national team in the Korea Cup, Merdeka Tournament and King's Cup (Thailand), 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.

In the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification, he played all of South Korea's twelve matches, and recorded five goals and two assists, although his knee got a boil during the competition. 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. However, he showed lethargic plays to prepare tryouts for Bundesliga clubs, and received criticisms. 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, but failed to prevent South Korea's elimination in the group stage.

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.

Personal life Cha is a Christian.

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.

Career statistics Club +Appearances and goals by club, season and competition The RSSSF is also claiming 136 appearances about Cha's international career, but its details have some discrepancies.

Honours Player Korea University Korean National Championship: 1974

Eintracht Frankfurt UEFA Cup: 1979–80 DFB-Pokal: 1980–81

Bayer Leverkusen UEFA Cup: 1987–88

South Korea U20 AFC Youth Championship runner-up: 1971, 1972 AFC Asian Cup runner-up: 1972

Individual IFFHS World's Player of the 20th Century 60th place: 2000 IFFHS Legends: 2016 IFFHS Asia's Player of the 20th Century: 1999 IFFHS Asian Men's Team of All Time: 2021 MasterCard Asian/Oceanian Team of the 20th Century: 1998 ESPN Best Asian Footballer of All Time: 2015 Korean FA Most Valuable Player: 1973 Korean National Semipro League (Spring) Best Player: 1976 kicker Team of the Season: 1979–80, 1985–86

Records Youngest player in the world to reach 100 international caps: 24 years, 35 days South Korea all-time top goalscorer: 58 goals

Manager Hyundai Horang-i Korean League Cup runner-up: 1993

Suwon Samsung Bluewings Pan-Pacific Championship: 2009 A3 Champions Cup: 2005 K League 1: 2004, 2008 Korean FA Cup: 2009 Korean League Cup: 2005, 2008 Korean Super Cup: 2005

Individual K League All-Star: 1992, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 AFC Coach of the Month: February 1997, May 1997, September 1997 AFC Coach of the Year: 1997 K League 1 Manager of the Year: 2004, 2008 Korean FA Cup Best Manager: 2009