Kei Kamara

At 40 years old, Kei Kamara has this physical status:

Kei Ansu Kamara (born 1 September 1984) is a Sierra Leonean international footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids.

In 2015, Kamara tied for top scorer in MLS with 22 goals, losing out to Sebastian Giovinco on the Golden Boot on fewer assists.

He is one of only 10 players to have scored 100 goals in MLS history, achieving the landmark in 300 appearances.

Early life and education

Kamara was born and raised in Kenema, Sierra Leone's second-largest city, and began his career playing for Kallon F.C. from 2001–2003. At age 16, Kamara and his family migrated to the United States through a refugee program, initially moving to Maryland, before settling with relatives in Hawthorne, California, near Los Angeles. He became an American citizen.

Kamara played college soccer at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where, in his second year, he was named third-team All-American. Kamara also spent two seasons with Orange County Blue Star in the USL Premier Development League.

Personal life

Kamara earned his U.S. citizenship in 2006. He is married and has three children.

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Club career

In the first round of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, Kamara was selected by Columbus Crew in the ninth overall. He appeared in 36 games and scored 5 goals during his two seasons as a player.

He was traded to San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for Brian Carroll prior to the 2008 season. However, he appeared on 12 appearances and scored 2 goals during the 2008 season.

Kamara was traded to Houston Dynamo for a first-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft and allocation lottery on July 24, 2008. In a CONCACAF Champions League match against Mexican club UNAM Pumas on September 30, 2008, Kamara scored two goals for the MLS champion Houston Dynamo against Mexican club UNAM Pumas.

Kamara was traded to Sporting Kansas City for Abe Thompson and allocation funds on September 15, 2009. Kamara had many productive seasons with Kansas City, making him one of the league's most imposing wingers.

Following an unsuccessful trial at Stoke City earlier this off-season, Kamara was a transfer target of Norwich City of the English Premier League during the winter 2013 transfer window. On January 30, 2013, Norwich announced that Kamara had been on loan with Norwich for the remainder of the 2012–13 Premier League season. Norwich had the option of a pre-negotiated permanent transfer or to return Kamara to Sporting at the end of the season, in which case, Kamara will miss the first ten games of the MLS season. Kamara's deal with Major League Soccer was also extended as part of the agreement. Kamara was granted a visa on February 5, making him legally eligible to play for the club, according to the club's news. In a 0–0 draw with Fulham four days later, he made his league debut for Norwich as an 86th-minute replacement. He appeared on as a 58th-minute substitute, and 19 minutes later, scored his first goal for Norwich, equalizing 1–1 against Everton with a spectacular header at Carrow Road in a securing 2–1 victory. On March 17, Kamara and teammate Wes Hoolahan were drawn in a 1–1 draw against Sunderland, with his header over the goalkeeper being directed into the goal by Hoolahan, who was standing on the goal line. Later, Kamara said the only reason he didn't claim the goal as his own was because it was St. Patrick's Day, and he and Irishman Hoolahan were planning an Irish dance recital.

Kamara's flamboyant style of play quickly became a fan favorite of Norwich's, with some fans writing songs to celebrate their new hero. Despite this, Kamara did not score any more in a Norwich shirt, and Norwich denied the possibility of moving him on a permanent basis. Norwich City announced that the loan agreement had ended and that he would be returning to Sporting Kansas City right away.

On September 2, 2013, it was announced that Kamara had signed for Middlesbrough of the Championship on a two-year deal for a £900,000. In a 1–3 loss to Ipswich Town, he made his club debut 12 days later and returned as a 63rd-minute replacement. In a 2–2 draw at Nottingham Forest on September 17, Kamara got off to a good start and scored his first goal for Boro. He scored on his home debut against Forest and AFC Bournemouth followed a 3–3 draw four days later. He scored on October 5th in a 4–1 win at home to Yeovil Town and then defeated Doncaster Rovers in a 4–0 home win. Middlesbrough had sabbeered contract with Kamara as a result of mutual consent, which was revealed on August 28th.

Kamara had a fruitful trial with newly promoted Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers after parting ways with Middlesbrough. However, his work permit renewal request was turned down after Sierra Leone fell to seventh place in the FIFA World Rankings, and Wolverhampton shifted its attention to signing Yannick Sagbo instead.

In late August 2014, it was announced that Kamara could return to MLS, but that it would have to go through the league's allocation system since Kansas City received a transfer fee for the player. The No. 67 was the No. at the time. Columbus Crew SC, the club that first drafted Kamara in 2006, claimed the number one spot in the allocation rankings. On October 7, 2014, it was announced that Kamara had signed for Columbus and would be officially added to the roster on January 1, 2015. Since he was released by Middlesbrough after the 2014 MLS roster freeze, he will not be eligible to play for the Crew until the 2015 Major League Soccer season.

During the season, he helped the Crew reach the playoffs by finishing second in the Eastern Conference and ending as the joint top-scoring criterion, alongside Sebastian Giovinco of Toronto FC with 22 goals in 33 games, although Giovinco claimed the MLS Golden Boot for the second time (17 against Kamara's 8). He was one of the three finalists for both the 2015 MLS Landon Donovan MVP Award and the 2015 Advocare MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award, although he missed out on the MVP Award, which went to Giovinco in November 2015. In a 3–1 victory over Montreal Impact in the Eastern Conference semi-finals of the MLS Playoffs on Sunday, he scored two goals, including the decisive goal in extra time that allowed Columbus Crew to advance to the Eastern Conference finals on November 8th. He scored in the first leg of the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals, a 2–0 win over the New York Red Bulls, who gave Columbus a 2–1 win over aggregate and advanced to the MLS Cup Final on November 22nd. However, it was initially unclear if Kamara would be able to play in the 2015 MLS Cup Final against the Portland Timbers due to an injury sustained in preparation; nevertheless, he played all 90 minutes of the game, scoring the only goal for Columbus in a 2–1 loss. Kamara was the top-goalscorer in the 2015 MLS Playoffs, bringing his total season total number to 26 goals, although he lost out on the MLS Cup MVP Award to Portland's Diego Valeri for four goals.

Columbus got off to a slow start in the 2016 season after being signed to a Designated Player deal. In his first nine games, Kamara scored five goals, including a brace against Montreal on May 7, 2016, when Columbus had the lead. Federico Higua vs. Kamara over a penalty kick, with Kei potentially getting his first hat trick in his career; however, Higua Nevi wanted to take it himself. The game ended in a 4–4 draw. In an interview after the game, Kamara called Higurn out explicitly. As a result, Gregg Berhalter, the boss of the next game, was suspended.

Just five days after the penalty kick incident with Hiawa in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, Columbus received a first-round pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, targeted allocation funding, and a share of any fee received should New England transfer Kamara to another team outside of MLS.

In a 2–1 victory over the New York Cosmos, he scored his first goal for New England. In a 4–0 win, he scored his first MLS hat trick against Orlando City on September 2, 2017.

On December 10, 2017, Kamara was traded by New England to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft and a conditional second-round pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. In a 2–1 win over Montreal Impact on 4 March, he scored on his debut against the Montreal Impact on March 4th. When Kamara's deal came to an end in 2018, he left Vancouver at the end of the 2018 season.

Kamara was first drafted by FC Cincinnati in the 2018 MLS Expansion Draft and immediately moved to Colorado Rapids in exchange for a foreign roster spot for the 2019 season on December 11th.

In a 6–3 victory over Montreal Impact on August 3, he earned his second hat-trick of his professional career and the ninth overall hat-trick in franchise history for the Colorado Rapids. He scored 11 league goals for the season, the most for the Rapids since Omar Cummings in 2010.

Colorado sold Kamara to Minnesota United for allocation funds and a 2022 second round MLS SuperDraft pick on September 18, 2020. On October 3, 2020, he scored a penalty kick against FC Cincinnati, becoming the first MLS player to score for eight different clubs; no one else has scored more than six.

Kamara signed with HIFK Fotboll in Finland through the end of the 2021 season, with a option for the 2022 season.

Kamara re-edited North America in February 2022, rejoining CF Montréal on a one-year contract, with an option for 2023. In a 2022 CONCACAF Champions League match against Santos Laguna of Liga MX, he made his debut for his new club on February 23nd.

International career

Kamara was dropped from the national team set-up in August 2019 for "disciplinary reasons." He was recalled later this month. Sellas Tetteh, the nation's former manager, resigned from international service in November 2019. Tetteh defended himself. Kamara returned to the national team set-up, and Sierra Leone's only goal, Michael Gambara, was scored on June 2021, their first since 1996.

On April 21, 2022, Kamara announced that he would leave international football.

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