Cha Bum-kun

In this Korean name, the family name is Cha.
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 Bangkok Team
AFC Asian Cup
Silver medal – second place 1972 Thailand Team
AFC Youth Championship
Silver medal – second place 1971 Japan Team[3]
Silver medal – second place 1972 Thailand Team[4]
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Korean name
Hangul
차범근
Hanja
Revised RomanizationCha Beom-geun
McCune–ReischauerCh'a Pŏmgŭn

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]

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.

  1. ^ "Cha Bum-kun at Korea Football Association" (in Korean). KFA. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Cha confessed that he had run away from school because he hadn't wanted to be beaten" (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 14 August 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  3. ^ "18 national players were determined for the AFC Youth Championship". Naver (in Korean). Kyunghyang Shinmun. 12 March 1971. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  4. ^ "18 national players were selected for the 14th AFC Youth Championship". Naver (in Korean). The Dong-a Ilbo. 9 March 1972. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Son can join in this list of the top Asian players" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  6. ^ "SBS Documentary - A lot of German citizens remembering Cha Bum-kun". YouTube.com (in Korean). Seoul Broadcasting System. 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  7. ^ Cha Bum-kun - Park Ji-sung - Son Heung-min, who is the best? (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  8. ^ "IFFHS HISTORY : ASIA – PLAYER OF THE CENTURY (1900–1999)". IFFHS. 10 October 2017. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  9. ^ Duerden, John (8 January 2015). "Countdown: The Top 10 Asian footballers of all time". ESPN. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  10. ^ "The greatest Asian footballers of all time - ranked". 90min. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Records and milestones on the road to Brazil". FIFA. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  12. ^ Mamrud, Roberto; Villante, Eric (8 July 2020). "Bum-Kun Cha - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Beom-geun Cha » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 28 October 2019.


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