Stielike’s 'Cha Du-ri effect' beyond expectations

Stielike’s 'Cha Du-ri effect' beyond expectations. November. 18, 2016 07:17. by Yun-Cheol Jeong trigger@donga.com. “Cha Du-ri effect” has played a great role in leading the national soccer team to a dramatic comeback win against Uzbekistan.

Retired from his professional career in 2015, Cha Du-ri was appointed as a power analysist for the Korean national football team, which was expecting its fifth final group stage round against Uzbekistan for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia qualifications. Cha was in charge of lifting up the spirits of players who lost their fourth match against Iran, and liaise between players and manager Ulrich Stielike. As he held no license yet, he was assigned as an analysis, but still was a de-facto coach.

As the national team prepared for the match against Uzbekistan, Cha gave an idea to the Korean Football Association; creating a “video clip to root for the players.” The clip distributed by the association on Thursday shows fans rooting for players, manager, and coaches during their visit to last Wednesday’s friendly match against Canada. At the end of the clip, a subtitle appears, saying, “Don’t ever forget that you are the greatest players shouldered with a responsibility of giving hope to many people.” The clip came as a “surprise event” from Cha to restore confidence to his juniors.

The players watched this video together at an auditorium within the national football team training center located in Paju, Gyeonggi-do, and then moved to Seoul World Cup Stadium to play against Uzbekistan. According to an official of KFA told that “the players responded with a roaring spirit, saying that they were ‘enforced’ and ‘will not loosen up.’”

“Cha spoke with Stielike in German before the training, and coached players based on thorough understanding of the training diligently,” said a KFA official. Stielike also appraised Cha, saying, “We were able to beat Uzbekistan thanks to everyone including Cha.”