The 100th Collaborated Goal From The Chas

August 29, 1979 was the day when 51 year-old Cha Bun-kuen (coach of Suwon Samsung) recorded his very first debut goal as a member of Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga league.

In 24 years 5 months and 25 days, his son Cha Doo-ri (24, Frankfurt) scored a goal in the same uniform and the same header as he followed in his father’s footsteps.

At the 2003-2004 Bundesliga division one league match up of Frankfurt against Hertha Berlinon on the 23rd, Cha Doo-ri came off as a starting forward and scored a fabulous back header in the goal mouth on receiving a cross from teammate Skela at 18 minutes of the first half. Frankfurt won the match with goals from Cha Doo-ri and Ioannis Amanatidis respectively. Frankfurt stands in 16th place out of 18 teams with five wins, five draws and 11 losses.

Cha Bum-keun represented Korean soccer in the 70s and 80s. Cha Doo-ri is the rising spotlight of Korea who gave publicity to the world in the 2002 World Cup. The “father and son” performance has emitted light in the Bundesliga for two generations.

Cha Doo-ri`s goal could be a memorial in many ways. Coach Cha, who entered Frankfurt in 1979, made his debut goal against Stuttgart with a header in August 29th. Cha Doo-ri`s goal was his debut goal as a member of Frankfurt.

Also, the collaboration of the 100th goal from the two generations in the Bundesliga league means a lot. Coach Cha participated in 122 matches and scored 46 goals as a member of Frankfurt and transferred to Leverkusen where he added 52 goals and notched 98 goals in 308 matches. The 98 goals is a record of the most scored goals from a foreign player in Bundesliga history. Coach Cha always felt a lack of two goals, but his son filled it up for him instead.

Cha Doo-ri scored his debut goal against Bremen as a wile pelt member last January 26th; this one is his second.

Coach Cha`s had been named “The Brown Bomber” in his prime. Could his son, who just made a jump start in goals, outscore his father?

First of all, both have the same playing style, with speed-oriented plays. Coach Cha sprints 100m in 11.3 seconds. Cha Doo-ri reads around 11.5 seconds but his speed is kicking up so in a matter of time, he will surpass his father.

The son is ahead of his father in physical stature also. He is 5cm taller and weighs 3kg to 4kg more than his father did in his prime (72kg).

On the other hand, Coach Cha is ahead of his son in the prestige of entering the Bundesliga. In coach Cha`s senior year in Kyung-Shin high school when he was 18, he was selected to the national team and was named Asia`s best striker in 1979 before making his way into Germany. On the year of his entrance, Coach Cha stood in fourth place out of 350 players in Bundesliga on the vote of top stars selected from soccer magazine Kicker.

Contrary to that, Cha Doo-ri started soccer in the Leverkusen junior team when he was four, as he played both track and soccer, and is currently viewed as an incomplete player. But Cha is making his way up with the winning goal against Lebanon in the World Cup Asia region’s second preliminary round and an additional goal within 5 days. He had been selected by the ex-Korean national team coach Gus Hiddink to be the spotlight of the most active player in 2006 World Cup.

Coach Cha, who heard the news of his son’s goal in Turkey for the teams field training, couldn`t hide his happiness and commented "Doo-ri is showing the best condition in the second half of the year. I think he gained confidence with the goal against Lebanon."

Soon-Il Kwon stt77@donga.com