Cha Bum Kun

Short Biography

Cha Bum-kun (Hangul: 차범근; born 22 May 1953) 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. The nickname was first used by the German Kicker Magazine, which also named Cha as one of the greatest footballers of the 1980s. Cha was born in Hwaseong in the South Korean province of Gyeonggi. 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 football clinics. He coached the national team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and also Ulsan Hyundai and Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the K League. 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 135 times, scoring 58 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.