Where do they stand in terms of world footballing history? Is Hong Myung-Bo among the top 20 greatest defenders in history, or more like top 50, or not even top 100? What about Cha Bum-Kun? Would you consider Hong Myung-Bo to be better than Cha Bum-Kun, or vice versa?
good point. Hong might be in the all-time top-20 greatest defenders in history. Hong is especially good at leading and organizing the team apart from his physical abilibties. Or..Top-30~40 would be more realistic. As for Cha, yes Cha is definately ahead of Hong IMO. Cha has: 1.brought 2 UEFA Cups to 2 different Bundesligan teams. Became the MVPs on both of them. 2. became the MVP of the Bundesliga. (Bundesliga back then was one of the best leagues in the world if not the best) 3. holds the record for most games played by a foreigner in the Bundesliga 4. Held the record for most goals scored by a foreigner until 1999. (so he's second place now) 5. Won the Asian Player of the Century --------------------- So it'll be tough for Hong to beat the above although he got something Cha couldn't; The Bronze Ball Award from the World Cup stage
Re: Re: Cha Bum-Kun and Hong Myung-Bo I'm curious if Hong will be a candidate for the Asian Player of the Century by the end of 21st century (yep we are talking future!) He's technically 21st century player.
Re: Re: Re: Cha Bum-Kun and Hong Myung-Bo who knows? maybe they'll just look at what Hong did at 2002 and decide?
Hong - top 100 defenders in history. Possibly top 50. There have been a lot of great defenders over the years. Cha - top 50 strikers in history. Possibly top 20.
I said Cha in top 50 and Hong in top 100 in terms of all the football players. Not just striker or defender. So although the numbers I gave might suggest I underrated Cha and Hong than anyone else, I did not
it one of the highly rated british magazines (i forgot which), Cha was selected as the top 100 footballers. if they chose 30 forward, 30, midfield, 30 defense and 10 keepers, he naturally made the top 30.
Interesting stuff. Do you think Song Chong-Guk, Cha Du-Ri, or even that youngster Jung Jo-Guk has a chance to equal the feats of the two greats? And for the Japanese fans, are there any young Japanese guns who have the potential to be great?
Pele never played in Europe. Hong is certainly one of the top ten players never to play in Europe though...
I admit Song is really good, but let's not forget that Hong first went to the World Cup when he was 19...and he STARTED for the nats at the World Cup at age 19.
Cha (senior) was one of the best strikers and pure goal scorers in his prime - for one or two years, he was arguably the best in the world. He deserves recognition as one of the best 50 ever. Hong, as much as I like him and respect his accomplishments, was/is not at the level of Cha. He is a great leader and field general, with dangerous offensive skills in his prime - every Korean fan remembers his brilliant goal in the World Cup finals 1994. Unfortunately, he was also on the pitch for some of the biggest losses suffered by Korea in recent times. Some that come to mind are the Asian Cup 96 meltdown to Iran (2-6, after being up 2-1 at HT), WC 98 disaster against Holland (0-5), Confederations Cup 01 loss to France (0-5), and friendly loss to Czech in 01 (0-5; note - not sure if he played in this one). One man cannot be blamed entirely for the meltdown of an entire team, but at the same time, he was the leader who could not inspire or organize his team in these important matches. So to me, Hong Myung-bo is a very good player, but not good enough to be considered top 100 in the world.