Cha Bum-kun

In West Germany he was "Tscha Bum" or "Cha Boom", and until Son Heung-min passed him in 2026 he was South Korea's all-time top scorer. Cha Bum-kun's game rested on explosive pace and finishing. He is widely counted among the best footballers Asia has produced, and the IFFHS named him Asia's Player of the 20th Century in 1999. His road to Europe was bumpy. After Korea University and a semi-pro title with Korea Trust Bank, he went into the Air Force for military service. Eintracht Frankfurt coach Dieter Schulte spotted him at the 1978 Korea Cup, and Cha even debuted in the Bundesliga for Darmstadt 98 that December, but the Air Force broke its promise and ordered him home. He only got back in July 1979, already 26, signing for Frankfurt. He made up for lost time. He scored in three straight games in his first season, and by the halfway mark kicker had put him in its "world class" bracket. He starred as Frankfurt won their first UEFA Cup in 1980, and big names noticed: Alex Ferguson, then managing Aberdeen, called him the "unstoppable player", and Lothar Matthäus, who met him in that final, rated him "one of the best attackers in the world". A spinal injury in August 1980 kept him out only a month, and he came back to score six goals in six DFB-Pokal ties as Eintracht lifted the cup. A winger in Korea, he mostly led the line in Germany. With Frankfurt in money trouble, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen in 1983, and his best year came in 1985–86 with 17 league goals as the club earned a first-ever UEFA Cup place. In the 1988 UEFA Cup final against Espanyol he scored the dramatic equaliser that made it 3–3, and Leverkusen won on penalties. He retired in 1989 with 98 Bundesliga goals in 308 games, none of them penalties, and only one yellow card. For South Korea he debuted at 18 and reached 100 caps at 24 years and 35 days, younger than anyone in the world. At the 1976 Korea Cup he struck a hat-trick against Malaysia inside five minutes to earn a dramatic 4–4 draw, and he played all twelve qualifiers for the 1978 World Cup despite a boil on his knee. At the 1978 Asian Games, though Korea took gold, he was criticised for lethargic play while his mind was on Bundesliga trials. His last tournament was the 1986 World Cup, where he coped well with close marking but could not stop a group-stage exit. Later he coached Korea at the 1998 World Cup and won the 2004 K League with Suwon, a title he ranked above his 1988 UEFA Cup. As a player, he was a fast forward who scored his Bundesliga goals without penalties and kept his head while defenders hounded him.