Min-jae Kwak (, born 25 August 2000) is a South Korean

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for

Chattanooga FC Chattanooga Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 2009, the team began play in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) in Spring 2020. Prior to joining the NISA ...

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...

Early life

Born in South Korea, Kwak lived in Fiji for eight months, before moving to the United States at age 12, moving to Orange County, California. Shortly after arriving in the United States, he was invited to trial with the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

academy, but did not make the program. He began playing with South Bay Force before moving to the Strikers FC Academy, before moving to Pateadores Academy, Sporting Arsenal, before returning to Strikers Academy. In September 2019, he joined the youth side of Croatian club

HNK Gorica Hrvatski nogometni klub Gorica ( en, Croatian Football Club Gorica), commonly referred to as HNK Gorica or simply Gorica, is a Croatian football club based in the town of Velika Gorica, located just south of the Croatian capital Zagreb. They p ...

, after having participated in a camp for South Korean players with the club. He scored in a exhibition game with the first team against Lekenik FC.

Club career

In 2019, he played with South Korean side TNT FC. In September 2020, he signed with

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...

club

California United Strikers FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Orange County, California. History The club was founded by Bronwyn & Pete Capriotti and Michael Collins (soccer), Michael Collins, who have had connections to the adult ama ...

, after having trained with the club since January. In March 2022, he joined another NISA club,

AC Syracuse Pulse Syracuse Pulse, initially AC Syracuse Pulse is an American professional soccer club based in Syracuse, New York. The Pulse field a men's team in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), the 3rd tier of the US soccer pyramid, and a w ...

. That season, he was named to the NISA Best XI, after having scored four goals and adding an assist. In March 2023, he signed with

Vancouver FC Vancouver Football Club, commonly known as Vancouver FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club in Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier Le ...

in the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

, becoming the second Korean-born player to play in the CPL. With Vancouver, he was converted by head coach

Afshin Ghotbi Afshin Ghotbi ( fa, افشین قطبی, born 8 February 1964 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American football coach who works as head coach of Vancouver FC in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Afshin Ghotbi was born in Tehran. He is the son ...

, who was an assistant coach with the South Korea national team at the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

s, to play

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. In May 2023, he was named to the CPL Team of the Week for the first time, after helping his team earn a clean sheet in their match that week. He scored his first goal on June 2 against

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 201 ...

. In March 2024, he signed with

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kwak, Min-jae 2000 births Living people South Korean men's footballers HNK Gorica players California United Strikers FC players Syracuse Pulse players National Independent Soccer Association players South Korean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Croatia South Korean expatriate sportspeople in the United States South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Canada Vancouver FC players Men's association football wingers Canadian Premier League players Chattanooga FC players