Du Ri Cha is following in some very big footsteps (Feature)

By Peter Auf der Heyde Jan 21, 2011, 13:39 GMT

Doha - If South Korean defender Cha Du Ri wants to follow in his father's footsteps, he needs to put on some very big boots.

After all, his father is Cha Bum Kun, who was nominated as Asia's Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

But Cha, who was born in Frankfurt when his father was playing for Eintracht Frankfurt, told the German Press Agency dpa on Friday at the Asian Cup that he is used to the comparison.

'It is not only here at the Asian Cup that I am being compared with my father. I think for as long as I play football my father's name will follow me. That is nothing new.'

Cha, who joined Scottish giants Celtic last year after playing 204 games over eights years in Germany, said he is concentrating on his own career and on the Asian Cup right now where his team faces a tough quarter-final test against Iran on Saturday in Doda.

'I just play my game and try to give my best for the team. It is going quite well at the moment and I am hoping that we can continue having success and go all the way to the final,' he said.

Many believe that Cha junior has already surpassed his fathers' international success in 55 caps earned to date. His father shone more on club level than his country had success in the 121 caps he won for South Korea.

Cha Du Ri came off the bench in some matches as South Korea sensationally made it all the way to the 2002 World Cup semi-finals. He was not selected in 2006 but played again 2010 in South Africa.

When asked if he thinks he has already achieved more than his father with South Korea, he laughs.

'Yes, I suppose you can say that.

'Of course he was a great player, who did a lot for South Korean and for Asian football and it is not easy to follow in his footsteps.

'But I am also proud of what I have achieved as a player. At the World Cup and also with my clubs in Germany and now in Scotland and I think that not only do I have a reason to be proud, I think my father is also proud for me.'

The 30-year-old said that he was aware that although South Korea is considered one of the best teams in Asia, they always fall short at the Asian Cup, with their last appearance in the final dating back to 1988.

'If only I knew why that is. It is difficult to say. Somehow it just happens that we simply fail to go beyond a certain stage, that happens in these kind of competitions.'

However, Cha expressed his hope for a change in his country's fortunes in Qatar.

'I think it will be different this time around. We have a very young team and in the group phase we played really good football and we should build on that,' he said.

'You should always be positive and whatever happened in the past is the past and we will try everything to get to the final.'

If Du and South Korea manage to do that, the defender will have taken yet another step towards following in his fathers' footsteps.

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