Pak Kwang-ryong (Korean박광룡; born 27 September 1992) is a North Korean professional footballer who plays as a forward for the North Korea national football team.

Pak Kwang-ryong
Pak with SKN St. Pölten in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-09-27) 27 September 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Pyongyang, North Korea
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Unknown
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Kigwanch'a
2010–2011 Wŏlmido
2010–2011 Kigwanch'a
2011 Wil 0 (0)
2011–2016 Basel 14 (1)
2012–2016 Basel U21 12 (6)
2013Bellinzona (loan) 17 (7)
2013Vaduz (loan) 5 (2)
2014–2015Vaduz (loan) 37 (10)
2015–2016Biel-Bienne (loan) 26 (10)
2016–2017 Lausanne 39 (10)
2017–2020 SKN St. Pölten 52 (10)
International career
2010– North Korea U23 3 (3)
2009– North Korea 39 (14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 July 2020
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 October 2019
Pak Kwang-ryong
Chosŏn'gŭl
박광룡
Revised RomanizationBak Gwangryong
McCune–ReischauerPak Kwangnyong

Club career

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Born in Pyongyang, Pak originally played for Kigwanch'a SC of Sinŭiju before joining FC Wil 1900 in Switzerland.[1] However, Pak did not make any league appearances for them, because the club's quota of foreigner players had already been exhausted.

On 27 June 2011 it was announced that FC Basel had signed Pak for a five-year contract.[2][3] He joined Basel's first team during their 2011–12 season under head coach Thorsten Fink. In his very first test game against a district selection team from Miesbach, Pak scored four goals after coming on as a substitute at half time.[4] To the beginning of their 2011–12 season, Pak was a member of the Basel team that won the 2011 Uhrencup, beating both Hertha Berlin 3–0 and West Ham United 2–1 (here Pak scored the first goal of the match) to lead the table on goal difference above Young Boys.[5] After playing in seven test games Pak played his domestic league debut for his new club in the away game in the Stadion Wankdorf on 16 July 2011 as Basel play a 1–1 draw with BSC Young Boys.[6]

Because he was born in 1992 he was eligible to play for the newly formed Basel Under-19 team in the 2011–12 NextGen series. He scored his first goal for them during the team's first game against Tottenham Hotspur F.C. on 17 August 2011.[7]

On 14 September 2011 Pak became the first North Korean to play in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League campaign, coming on the field in the 92nd minute. On his 19th birthday, 27 September 2011, Pak came on as a substitute in the 81st minute of FC Basel's 3–3 away draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford in another UEFA Champions League match.

Pak scored his first competition goal for the team in an away game in the 2011–12 Swiss Cup on 17 September 2011. In fact he netted the first two goals as Basel won 4–0 against amateur club FC Eschenbach.[8] At the end of the 2011–12 season he won the Double with his new club. They won the League Championship title with 20 points advantage.[9] The team won the Swiss Cup, winning the final 4–2 in a penalty shootout against Luzern.[10]

Pak could not gain a place in the first team during the 2012–13 season but played regularly in their U-21 side, scoring six goals in twelve appearances, during the first half of the season. On 11 January 2013, Basel announced that some of their youngsters would be loaned out to lower league clubs and Pak signed a deal with Bellinzona, so that he could gain playing experience in the Challenge League.[11]

On 20 June 2013, Basel announced that they would loan Pak to the Liechtensteiner club Vaduz in the Swiss Challenge League, again so that he could gain more playing experience. However, following the transfer of Raúl Bobadilla to Augsburg, in the Bundesliga, and the injury to Marco Streller, Basel decided to recall the striker to their squad.[12] Pak played just one more game for Basel before he was again loaned to Vaduz from January 2014 until the end of the season. Playing in all 18 games, he scored 9 goals and Vaduz finished the 2013–14 Swiss Challenge League season as winners and were promoted. Pak's loan was renewed for the following Swiss Super League season.

In February 2014, he was named North Korea's Male Footballer of the Year for 2013.[1]

At the end of the 2014–15 season, Basel did not renew Pak's contract. During his time with Basel's first team, Pak played a total of 42 games for Basel scoring a total of 10 goals. 14 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, three in the Swiss Cup, four in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 21 were friendly games. He scored one goal in the domestic league, two in the cup and the other seven were scored during the test games.[13]

On 1 July 2015, he joined Biel-Bienne as a free agent. On 4 January 2016, Biel-Bienne annulled their contract with Pak who then signed with Lausanne.[14]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of matches played on 16 December 2018
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[15]
Club Season League Cup[a] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Basel 2011–12 Swiss Super League 13 1 1 2 3[b] 0 17 3
2012–13 0 0 0 0 1[c] 0 1 0
2013–14 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 14 1 1 2 4 0 19 3
Bellinzona (loan) 2012–13 Swiss Challenge League 17 7 0 0 17 7
Vaduz (loan) 2013–14 Swiss Challenge League 23 11 2 1 2[c] 0 27 12
2014–15 Swiss Super League 19 1 2 0 4[c] 0 25 1
Total 59 19 4 1 6 0 69 20
Biel-Bienne 2015–16 Swiss Challenge League 17 4 1 0 18 4
Lausanne 2015–16 Swiss Challenge League 9 6 0 0 9 6
2016–17 30 4 1 1 31 4
Total 56 14 2 1 58 15
St. Pölten 2017–18 Austrian Bundesliga 15 1 0 0 15 1
2018–19 18 4 1 0 19 4
Total 33 5 1 0 34 5
Career total 162 39 8 4 10 0 180 43
  1. ^ Includes Swiss Cup and Austrian Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ a b c Appearances in the UEFA Europa League

International

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Scores and results list North Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pak goal.
List of international goals scored by Pak Kwang-ryong[16]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 19 February 2010 Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka   Kyrgyzstan 2–0 4–0 2010 AFC Challenge Cup
2 16 March 2012 Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal   Palestine 1–0 2–0 2012 AFC Challenge Cup
3 2–0
4 16 June 2015 Kim Il Sung Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea   Uzbekistan 1–0 4–2 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 17 November 2015 Kim Il Sung Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea   Bahrain 1–0 2–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 6 October 2016 Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam   Vietnam 1–0 2–5 Friendly
7 2–2
8 10 October 2016 Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, Philippines   Philippines 1–0 3–1 Friendly
9 9 November 2016 Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong   Guam 2–0 2–0 2017 EAFF E-1 Football Championship qualification
10 6 June 2017 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar   Qatar 1–2 2–2 Friendly
11 10 November 2017 New I-Mobile Stadium, Buriram, Thailand   Malaysia 1–0 4–1 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
12 13 November 2017 New I-Mobile Stadium, Buriram, Thailand   Malaysia 1–0 4–0 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
13 27 March 2018 Kim Il Sung Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea   Hong Kong 2–0 2–0 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
14 17 January 2019 Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates   Lebanon 1–0 1–4 2019 AFC Asian Cup

Honours

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North Korea

Basel

Vaduz

References

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  1. ^ a b "Naenara Democratic People's Republic of Korea". Naenara. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018.
  2. ^ The Associated Press (2011). "North Korea forward Pak joins Swiss champion Basel". USA Today. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  3. ^ BaZ (27 June 2011). "FCB verpflichtet stürmer aus Nordkorea". FCB sign a striker from North Korea (in German). Basler Zeitung. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  4. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (28 June 2011). "Landkreisauswahl Miesbach - FC Basel 0:15 (0:7)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  5. ^ Garin, Erik (2011). "Coupe Horlogère - Uhren Cup (Switzerland)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  6. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (16 July 2011). "BSC Young Boys - FC Basel 1:1 (0:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  7. ^ Marti, Caspar (2011). "Punkteteilung im ersten Spiel der "Nachwuchs-Champions League"" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  8. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (17 September 2011). "FC Eschenbach - FC Basel 0:4 (0:3)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  9. ^ Stokkermans, Karel (2017). "Switzerland 2011/12" (in French). Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  10. ^ Swiss Football Verband (SFV) (16 May 2012). "FC Basel - FC Luzern 4:2 n.P. (1:1, 1:1, 0:0)". Swiss Football Verband (SFV) internet. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  11. ^ FC Basel 1893 (2013). "Kwang Ryong Pak leihweise zu Bellinzona" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Baz (2013). "FC Basel holt Pak zurück". FC Basel recalls Pak. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  13. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (2020). "Kwang Ryong Pak - FCB statistic". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  14. ^ Scahffner, Philippe (2016). "Pak wechselt zum FC Lausanne-Sport" (in German). Fussball Club Biel-Bienne. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Kwang-Ryong Pak » Club matches". World Football. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  16. ^ "Pak, Kwang-Ryong". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
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