32 Facts About Cha Bum-kun

Cha Bum-kun showed explosive pace and powerful shots with his thick thighs.

Cha Bum-kun is widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time.

In 1972, Cha Bum-kun had been capped for the South Korea national team as the youngest player of the time at the age of 18.

Cha Bum-kun is the youngest player to ever reach 100 international caps in the world at 24 years and 35 days, and the all-time leading goalscorer of the South Korean national team with 58 goals.

Cha Bum-kun scored a total of 121 goals in two Bundesliga clubs, and won the UEFA Cup with each team.

Cha Bum-kun originally joined Yeongdo Middle School to learn football, but the school's football club was dissolved as soon as he joined there.

Cha Bum-kun started his football career by transferring to Kyungshin Middle School after playing field hockey for Yeongdo for one and a half years.

Cha Bum-kun became a notable player of Kyungshin High School, and was selected for the South Korean under-20 team in 1970.

Cha Bum-kun led his team to the title and was named the best player in the spring season of the Korean Semi-professional League.

Cha Bum-kun 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.

Cha Bum-kun 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.

The ROK Air Force didn't follow the contract with Cha Bum-kun, and ordered his return.

Cha Bum-kun scored in three consecutive games from third to fifth matchday of the Bundesliga, making an immediate impact early in his new club.

Cha Bum-kun was acclaimed by showing great performances helping Eintracht to win its first-ever UEFA Cup title.

Cha Bum-kun was evaluated as the "unstoppable player" by Sir Alex Ferguson, and "one of the best attackers in the world" by Lothar Matthaus.

On 23 August 1980, Cha Bum-kun's spine had been cracked by Jurgen Gelsdorf, who had tackled behind him, but came back to the stadium after a month.

Cha Bum-kun became Eintracht's top goalscorer for three consecutive seasons.

However, Cha Bum-kun transferred to Bayer Leverkusen due to a financial difficulty of Frankfurt in 1983.

Cha Bum-kun retired in 1989 after playing 308 Bundesliga games as a fair player.

Cha Bum-kun's scoring record wasn't broken for eleven years until Stephane Chapuisat scored more goals than him.

Cha Bum-kun generally played the Bundesliga games as a striker, but he had originally been a winger in South Korea.

Cha Bum-kun became a South Korean under-20 international in 1970, and took part in the AFC Youth Championship in 1971 and 1972.

Cha Bum-kun 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.

Cha Bum-kun 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.

Cha Bum-kun won a total of ten trophies and left memorable games in three competitions.

Cha Bum-kun showed exemplary performance in intensive checks by opponents, but failed to prevent South Korea's elimination in the group stage.

Cha Bum-kun later blamed the KFA for the bad performance, citing lack of bonuses and alleging pro soccer games in Korea were fixed.

Cha Bum-kun returned to coaching in late 2003 when offered the Suwon Samsung Bluewings position.

Cha Bum-kun 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.

Cha Bum-kun later resigned in June 2010 as Suwon manager.

Cha Bum-kun is a devout Christian and said the faith is one of his three biggest values along with family and football.

In November 2019, Cha Bum-kun received the Cross of Merit from the German government.