Little Cha Boom

Cha Do-ri (22), whose nickname is Cha Boom Junior, did a successful debut in the Bundesliga.

Cha, who advanced into the German league after the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, participated in the Sep. 12th away game. Put in the starting line-up, Cha demonstrated his unwaning speed and ran endlessly across the ground for 73 minutes until he was substituted out.

This is the first case for Asians, that both of a father and his son play in the German pro league. Cha’s father, Cha Bum-gun also the former Korean national team coach, was a star in Germany. From the ’78-’79 season, his father played in the Bundesliga for 10 years, or in 308 games, and recorded 98 goals.

Even though Cha did not record a goal or an assist in the game, people gave him a passing mark for his endless speedy play, which lasted all throughout 73 minutes. Cha, positioned as the right wing, dashed into the right corner and recorded his first centering at ‘7.

At ’13, he made a chance for his team with a surprising out-front pass, and at ’28 made a wonderful pass of the ball bounced out of the box, which his teammate did not pocket into the net.

Using his unique speed, he conjured up space on the right side, and participated actively in defense. At ’63, he made a heading shoot rushing into the box, which, however, was decided as a foul. At ’70, he got a yellow card for his kicking out the ball at the off-side judgment.

Originally, he was considered a substitute. With two main players of his team on the injured list, however, he has snatched up a chance. The game ended up a tie 1-1.

In an interview after the game, Cha evaluated himself and said, “In the first half, my play was kind of good. But in the latter, I lost the control over the game.”

He added, “My coach told me to prepare for the next game.” Thus, he is likely to play in the Sep. 15th home game against the Berlin team.

Sung-Won Joo swon@donga.com