Pak Kwang-ryong

Pak Kwang-ryong (; born 27 September 1992) is a North Korean professional footballer who plays as a forward.

Club career Born in Pyongyang, Pak originally played for Kigwanch'a SC of Sinŭiju before joining FC Wil 1900 in Switzerland. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

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. 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. The team won the Swiss Cup, winning the final 4–2 in a penalty shootout against Luzern.

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.

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. 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.

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.

Career statistics Club

International Scores and results list North Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pak goal.

Honours North Korea AFC Challenge Cup: 2010, 2012

Basel Swiss Super League: 2011–12 Swiss Cup: 2011–12

Vaduz Liechtenstein Cup: 2013–14 Swiss Challenge League: 2013–14