Korea should benchmark Germany: Bundesliga legend
Korean football legend Cha Bum-kun said Thursday his country should benchmark Germany to develop the sport in a healthy way.
Cha, arguably South Korea’s best footballer ever, said he believes that the men’s national football team can overcome its current crisis by learning from Germany, the defending FIFA World Cup champions and current No. 1 in the world.
South Korea managed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but football fans have been up in arms over their performance in recent matches. Since head coach Shin Tae-yong took the helm in July, South Korea have yet to collect a win. In 2017, the Taeguk Warriors have won only once.
“As someone from the football community, I first want to say sorry to fans and those who worry about South Korean football,” Cha said during a press conference for the German Bundesliga Legends Tour in Seoul. “As a person who worries about South Korean football, I believe our exchange with German Bundesliga would help us, so that’s why I accepted the Bundesliga Legend role.”
Cha is one of the 10 international Bundesliga legends selected by the German Football League, known as Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) in German. The 64-year-old, who hung up his boots in 1989, is the greatest Asian-born goal scorer in Bundesliga history with 98 goals in 308 matches.
The powerful forward for SV Darmstadt 98, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer 04 Leverkusen played in Germany between 1979 and 1989, winning the UEFA Cup twice, as well as the German Cup.
Cha said South Korea and Germany have similar characteristics.
“South Koreans don’t give up easily and have the strength to fight until the end,” he said. “These are good things in football and helped us to become one of the top teams in Asia. They are also similar to Germans’ fighting spirit, and that’s why I believe German football is suitable for us.”
Cha said South Korea should learn from what Germany went through after the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship. Germany suffered a group stage exit at Euro 2000, with one draw and two losses.
“Germans were devastated like us in 2000, but now they’re the world champions,” he said. “Germany has since focused on developing youth players and raising young coaches to help them. We have to benchmark what Germans did after Euro 2000.”
Cha said he will talk with youth football coaches across the nation and will ask for help from the Korea Football Association (KFA) and the DFL.
“We see a decreasing number of youth footballers and coaches, and this is a significant problem,” he said. “Germans have an educational approach and system. Like the Germans transformed themselves after 2000, it’s time for us to also make a change.”