The tireless work ethic that Cha Bum-kun exemplified had impressed the Eintracht manager Friedel Rausch, who called him “the best and the most willing forward” he had ever seen, soon after Cha joined Eintracht. His first goal came at the third game of the Bundesliga season, against VfB Stuttgart, and he quickly followed that up with one goal each in the next two games against Eintracht Braunschweig and Bayer Leverkusen. Shortly afterwards, he faced Aberdeen in the first leg of the first round in the UEFA Cup. The match in Scotland ended 1-1, with Cha scoring just 13 minutes into his maiden appearance in the competition that would become so central to his legacy. After being subsequently eliminated from the UEFA Cup by Eintracht Frankfurt, the then-Aberdeen manager, Alex Ferguson, called Cha an unstoppable footballer.
Cha Bum-kun had almost instantaneously become a crowd favourite, despite so recently being completely unknown in Europe. His performances, right from the get-go, began to turn doubters into fans. He struck up a fine partnership with Bernd Holzenbein, West Germany’s Left Winger in their victorious 1974 World Cup and Eintracht Frankfurt’s highest-ever Bundesliga goal-scorer. His viciously stinging shots were often too strong for keepers to save, earning him the onomatopoeic nickname of Tscha-bum. His relentless drive and intelligent positioning skills alongside his scoring record meant he was selected in the best XI of the season by Kicker, the premier German sports magazine. He was joined in the front three by consecutive Ballon d’Or-winning Kevin Keegan and Bayern hero Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Playing 31 matches in the league, Cha scored 12 goals, more than any other Eintracht player. His exploits in the DFB-Pokal were less memorable as his side was knocked out in the last 16, but he would soon be amending that.
The greatest memories of his debut season in Germany came in the UEFA Cup. While Eintracht’s league form was patchy and they conceded as many goals as relegated Hertha, their UEFA Cup performances were far more convincing. Cha masterfully displayed that his attacking contributions were not limited to goal-scoring. He was a source of constant menace in the opposition box. He scored his second goal of the European campaign against Dinamo Bucharest and his third against Feyenoord.
In the semifinals of the UEFA Cup, Eintracht faced Bayern Munich. They had defeated Bayern the first time they met in the league that season by completing a stunning turnaround. They were 2-0 down until the 67th minute, but scored thrice in the next eleven minutes to win 3-2. But the return league fixture in May saw a dominant Bayern winning 2-0. A fortnight on, Bayern again defeated Eintracht 2-0 in the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final. The second leg saw an inspired Bruno Pezzey, one of Austria’s best defenders, find the net twice in the 31st and 87th minutes to take the tie to extra time. Eintracht’s attacking unit, spearheaded by a tireless Cha, was able to score three more goals in the extra time, winning the match 5-1 and the tie 5-3 to reach their first UEFA Cup final and first European final since their 7-5 defeat against an all-time great Real Madrid side in the 1959/60 European Cup final.
The first leg of the final was not quite as promising for Frankfurt, as Lothar Matthäus’s Borussia Mönchengladbach, the reigning UEFA Cup champions, edged a close game 3-2. Eintracht had started the second leg with waves of attacks, one of them leading to a rasping volley by Cha that flew just over the crossbar. The first half ended goalless. Borussia Monchengladbach were consistently held back by the Frankfurt side, desperate for a goal, but they were made to wait much longer than anticipated. A single goal was all Eintracht Frankfurt needed to win the final, because they had scored two away goals. They finally breached Monchengladbach’s defence in the 81st minute, with Schaub finishing a move that saw Cha providing a sharp and quick looping pass in the build-up. Eintracht Frankfurt held on and won their first continental silverware. While Cha’s name didn’t feature in the scoresheet, his performances prompted Lothar Matthaus to remark that Cha was one of the best attackers in the world.
Early on in the 1980/81 season, Cha suffered an injury, but he still scored 8 goals in the league to power Eintracht Frankfurt to a 5th-place finish. But he saved his best for the DFB-Pokal campaign, where he scored 6 goals in 6 appearances, with a goal in the second leg of the semifinals and a 64th-minute headed goal in the final against Kaiserslautern. Eintracht won their third DFB-Pokal trophy. The next season, he scored 11 league goals. He followed that up with his most prolific Bundesliga campaign yet, scoring 15 times in the league.
By 1983, Eintracht had been struggling with serious financial difficulties, and they had to sell their stars to balance their books. After a glorious four seasons in Frankfurt, Cha signed for Bayer Leverkusen shortly after turning thirty.
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