By John Duerden
There is no greater compliment to any Korean football player than to be compared to Cha Bum-kun. Cha was the pioneer. The forward, who went to Germany in 1979 at a time when Asian players rarely went to Europe, had a very successful career before he left Europe in 1988.
Cha scored 19 goals in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen in the 1985-86 season and that has remained a record for a Korean player on a European top tier team.
Until now, Son Heung-min has equaled that tally in England. The attacker, who arrived at Tottenham Hotspur from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2015, scored goal number 19 in 2016-17 on Saturday as Spurs thrashed Watford 4-0.
He was on fire with eight goals in his last six games, helping the North Londoners to a 4-0 win over Watford. It marked the seventh successive league win for Tottenham and it puts the team just four points behind leader Chelsea. That is quite a change from the ten-point deficit that existed until recently and with six games remaining, Son has a chance of collecting a league title.
That is something that Cha never managed in Germany but things were different then. On the field it is difficult to compare but off the field going to Europe in 1979 was a much bigger challenge for obvious reasons.
Communication was limited to home phone lines back then. Today, Son can sit at home in England and watch Korean TV, read The Korea Times and chat with friends and family face to face. He can also go and eat at the many Korean restaurants in London.
Cha heading to Germany in 1979 was a leap into the dark. He was not going to London, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, but to smaller German cities. Keeping in contact back home was tough, Korean restaurants were almost unheard of.
Son has the likes of Cha to thank for making things a little easier. Asian players just did not go to Europe in those days. The reputation of Asian football players in Europe was virtually non-existent. When Cha went to Germany, Korea had appeared at one World Cup, back in 1954, and lost both games by large amounts. Japan had never made it. Asia had just not made an impact on the world stage.
By the time Son signed for Tottenham, fans and media in England had watched him play at the 2014 World Cup, watched him play dozens of games in the Bundesliga, making an impressive showing there. In the space of ten minutes you can watch all the goals he has ever scored in his career.
That makes it easier off the field. Son got big-money for signing, being well-known and from another top European league. All is organized in his life now and he wants for nothing.
Yet there is more pressure. Cha arrived as an unknown quantity and could have slipped back to Korea without anyone noticing if things had not gone well. Costing close to $30 million, there were expectations and pressure on Son. There was much more focus on him at home too.
Korean journalists follow him around England and there are dozens of articles written about every game which are shown live on TV. Son lives in a goldfish bowl that can't be easy to deal with.
The two eras are completely different but there is one thing both players have in common: they have done Korean football proud.
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Cha scored 19 goals in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen in the 1985-86 season and that has remained a record for a Korean player on a European top tier team.
Until now, Son Heung-min has equaled that tally in England. The attacker, who arrived at Tottenham Hotspur from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2015, scored goal number 19 in 2016-17 on Saturday as Spurs thrashed Watford 4-0.
He was on fire with eight goals in his last six games, helping the North Londoners to a 4-0 win over Watford. It marked the seventh successive league win for Tottenham and it puts the team just four points behind leader Chelsea. That is quite a change from the ten-point deficit that existed until recently and with six games remaining, Son has a chance of collecting a league title.
That is something that Cha never managed in Germany but things were different then. On the field it is difficult to compare but off the field going to Europe in 1979 was a much bigger challenge for obvious reasons.
Communication was limited to home phone lines back then. Today, Son can sit at home in England and watch Korean TV, read The Korea Times and chat with friends and family face to face. He can also go and eat at the many Korean restaurants in London.
Cha heading to Germany in 1979 was a leap into the dark. He was not going to London, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, but to smaller German cities. Keeping in contact back home was tough, Korean restaurants were almost unheard of.
Son has the likes of Cha to thank for making things a little easier. Asian players just did not go to Europe in those days. The reputation of Asian football players in Europe was virtually non-existent. When Cha went to Germany, Korea had appeared at one World Cup, back in 1954, and lost both games by large amounts. Japan had never made it. Asia had just not made an impact on the world stage.
By the time Son signed for Tottenham, fans and media in England had watched him play at the 2014 World Cup, watched him play dozens of games in the Bundesliga, making an impressive showing there. In the space of ten minutes you can watch all the goals he has ever scored in his career.
That makes it easier off the field. Son got big-money for signing, being well-known and from another top European league. All is organized in his life now and he wants for nothing.
Yet there is more pressure. Cha arrived as an unknown quantity and could have slipped back to Korea without anyone noticing if things had not gone well. Costing close to $30 million, there were expectations and pressure on Son. There was much more focus on him at home too.
Korean journalists follow him around England and there are dozens of articles written about every game which are shown live on TV. Son lives in a goldfish bowl that can't be easy to deal with.
The two eras are completely different but there is one thing both players have in common: they have done Korean football proud.
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