Bum-kun Cha: "The most important goal of my life"

Bum-kun, first of all we wish you a very happy birthday. How are you and how will you celebrate?

Bum-kun Cha: I'm very well thank you. I will spend the day with my family and have a birthday party at my house in the country and a few of my friends will be there.

Your time at Bayer 04 began almost 40 years ago. Your signing in the summer of 1983 was a real coup. You’d won the UEFA Cup and the DFB Cup with Eintracht Frankfurt. When you returned to Germany from holiday in the summer of 1983 you didn't know where you would be playing in the new season. So it was good that Reiner Calmund was at the airport in Frankfurt to welcome you, wasn't it?

Bum-kun Cha: (He laughs) Yes, it was very fortunate, not just for my career, but also for my whole family – my children had an uncle from that point. We negotiated my contract back then at a local hotel. Bayer 04 very quickly persuaded me to accept their offer.

What are your memories of your first days in Leverkusen?

Bum-kun Cha: The training ground was very small and the stadium not yet comparable with today's Arena. And everything else was somewhat more modest. I received a really warm welcome. Above all, Calli and Jürgen Gelsdorf did a great job looking after me and my family. Falko Götz was also a good friend. We got on really well from the start.

You were a regular first choice immediately and you formed a dream partnership in attack under the Bayer Cross with Herbert Waas.

Bum-kun Cha: Yes, Herbert was a great player, incredibly quick. And I wasn't the slowest either (he laughs). On top of that, we are both good at finishing and we often set each other up. Everything just worked out perfectly for us two.

You two were amongst the most important players in the second leg of the UEFA Cup final against Espanyol on 18 May 1988. What did you feel when you scored to make it 3-0 on 81 minutes?

Bum-kun Cha: That was a dramatic moment, the most exciting and important goal of my life. We'd won a big cup competition with the team that was still being built up. Nobody believed we could do it. We really achieved something incredibly special.

You are a legend in Leverkusen. How much contact do you still have with Bayer 04?

Bum-kun Cha: The contact is still very good and I regularly come to Leverkusen. Unfortunately, the only time I couldn't visit my friends here was during the coronavirus pandemic. I played for Bayer 04 for six years. That's a long time and I grew very fond of the city. My sons went to kindergarten and school here. We had great neighbours back then and we made a lot of friendships. I'm still grateful for that today. Perhaps I will be able to come back to Leverkusen again this year.

You were awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany four years ago – an honour to your decades of commitment to German Korean relations. What does that award mean to you?

Bum-kun Cha: A lot. It's just great to know that it's not just me that really values Germany but also that Germany values what I've achieved. That makes me a bit proud.

Do you still regularly follow Werkself games?

Bum-kun Cha: I don't watch every game live as its mostly very late in the evening or in the middle of the night in Seoul. But I'm always keen to know the results and I've got my fingers crossed for Bayer 04 in the Bundesliga run-in.