Cha Du-ri

Cha Du-ri ( or ; born 25 July 1980) is a former professional footballer.

He played as a right back, right winger, or striker.

Born in Germany, He is the first Korean player who was born outside of Korea to have played in a FIFA World Cup.

Cha started out at Korea University before beginning his club career in Germany, starting at Bayer Leverkusen, which he joined on 28 July 2002.

However, he did not get straight into the first team at Bayer Leverkusen instead getting loaned out to Arminia Bielefeld for the 2002–03 season.

On 11 September 2002, he made his Arminia Bielefield debut in his first start, a 1–1 draw against 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Since then, Cha established himself in the first team at Arminia Bielefield.

Later in the 2002–03 season, Cha made 22 appearances and scored once for the club.

Despite Arminia Bielefield's interest to keep him on for a second term, Cha opted to join Eintracht Frankfurt instead on a two-year loan deal.

Cha made his Eintracht Frankfurt debut in the opening game of the season, in a 3–1 loss against Bayern Munich.

Since making his debut for Eintracht Frankfurt, Cha began to play as a striker and remained in the first team despite struggling to score.

On 25 January 2003, he scored his first goal for the club, as well as setting up a goal, in a 2–2 draw against Werder Bremen.

On 22 February 2004, he scored his first Eintracht Frankfurt goal, in a 2–1 win over Hertha BSC.

After finishing the season, which saw the club relegated to 2. Bundesliga, Cha made 33 appearances and scored once in all competitions.

After missing a game at the start of the season due to international commitments, Cha's first game after signing for Eintracht Frankfurt on a permanent basis came on 15 August 2004, coming on as a substitute in the second half, in a 2–1 win over Karlsruher SC.

Cha scored his first goal on 22 September 2004, in a 4–2 win over Greuther Fürth in the second round of the DFB-Pokal.

By the end of 2004, Cha scored two more goals against LR Ahlen on 26 October 2004 and against Wacker Burghausen on 10 December 2004.

Cha later scored six more goals later in the season against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, SpVgg Unterhaching, Erzgebirge Aue, Eintracht Trier (twice) and Rot-Weiß Erfurt.

After helping the club achieve promotion back into the top flight, Cha went on to finish the 2004–05 season, making 32 appearances and scoring nine times in all competitions.

In the 2005–06 season, Cha continued to be in the first team and scored his first goal of the season, right after he came on as a late substitute for Christoph Preuß, in a 1–1 draw against Hamburg on 17 September 2005.

After suffering an injury that kept him out for weeks, Cha returned to the first team on 22 October 2005, in a 6–3 win over 1. FC Köln Cha then played in a right–back position on 9 December 2005 for the first time, in a 1–0 win over Borussia Dortmund and scored against them again in their second meeting of the season, in a 1–1 draw on 6 May 2006.

Though he lost his first team place during the season, Cha managed to regain it when he began to play in the right–back position for the rest of the season and was an unused substitute in the final of DFB-Pokal, in a 1–0 loss against Bayern Munich.

Despite this, Cha made 30 appearances and scored three times in all competitions.

Following this, he joined the club on a permanent basis in the summer, signing a two–year contract, keeping him until 2006.

With his contract expiring at the end of the season at Eintracht Frankfurt, Cha joined Mainz 05 on a free transfer on 14 May 2006, signing a two–year contract.

After appearing as an unused substitute in the opening game of the season, Cha made his Mainz debut on 19 August 2006, where he made his first start, in a 1–1 draw against Borussia Dortmund.

Before the 2006–07 season kicked off, Cha changed his position from striker to right wingback for Mainz 05 but throughout the season, he was hampered with a foot injury that prevented him from joining the starting line-up or even getting any playing time.

Despite this, Cha went on to make thirteen appearances in all competitions at Mainz.

After the 2006–07 season, Mainz 05 were relegated to 2. Bundesliga, and subsequently, Cha terminated his contract.

During the 2007 off-season, Cha signed on a free transfer with TuS Koblenz in the 2. Bundesliga for the 2007–08 season.

Cha made his debut for the club in the opening game of the season, where he played in midfield in a 4–1 loss against his former club, Mainz 05.

He played in the roles of right winger, supporting striker, and the centre forward position, after his failure to adjust to right wingback for Mainz 05.

On 23 November 2007, Cha scored his first Koblenz goal, right after coming on as a substitute, in a 2–0 win over Wehen Wiesbaden.

At the start of the 2008–09 season, Cha started the season well when he set up one of the goals, in a 3–0 win over Oberhausen in the opening game of the season.

During the third-place match of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup against Uzbekistan, Cha captained the national team in place of the regular Korean captain, Park Ji-sung.

Cha also played for one of his father Cha Bum-kun's clubs, Eintracht Frankfurt.

Cha was born in Frankfurt am Main in then-West Germany, when his father Cha Bum-kun was playing in the German Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt.

He spent his childhood in Germany while his father was playing for Frankfurt and later for Bayer Leverkusen.

Cha lived in West Germany until he moved to South Korea when he was ten.

Growing up, Cha was described by his father as having "a very optimistic mindset" and being "open and honest".