Mohamed Kamara

Mohamed Kamara (born 16 November 1987), widely known as Medo, is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for FC Haka in the finnish Veikkausliiga and the Sierra Leone national team. He also holds Finnish citizenship.[1]

For the footballer born in 1981, see Mohamed Kamara (footballer, born 1981).

Medó
Medo with KuPS in 2006
Personal information
Full name Mohamed Kamara
Date of birth (1987-11-16) 16 November 1987
Place of birth Port Loko, Sierra Leone
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Haka
Youth career
2002–2003 Kallon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 KuPS 23 (0)
2007–2010 HJK 91 (13)
2010–2013 Partizan 52 (0)
2013–2016 Bolton Wanderers 52 (3)
2015 → Maccabi Haifa (loan) 16 (1)
2016 HJK 21 (1)
2016–2018 Kuwait SC
2019–2020 Kazma SC
2020- FC Haka 18 (1)
National team‡
2003 Sierra Leone U17 3 (0)
2011– Sierra Leone 27 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 July 2016
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 March 2016

Early life

Kamara was born in Port Loko and raised in Bo, Sierra Leone. Both of his parents were said to have been killed during the civil war in Sierra Leone.[2] However, this is a claim that has since been denied by Kamara himself.[3]

Club career

Early career

Kamara started playing football in his school at the age of 7. His older brother, Kemoh Kamara, was teaching in the school and taught also football. At the age of 12, Kamara joined his first club, Sierra Rangers. His football career took a great step forward after signing for top division club Kallon in 2002.

Career in Finland
Kamara (wearing stripes) in action for HJK versus former club KuPS, 2008

After playing for the national youth selection in Finland, Kamara escaped along with several teammates from their accommodation and applied for asylum. After he got asylum, Kamara was ineligible to play professional football until his 18th birthday. During the waiting period, he trained with LehPa-77 in Kontiolahti. Kamara signed his first contract with Veikkausliiga club KuPS before the 2006 season. After a season and relegation with the Kuopio-based club, he moved to HJK in the Finnish capital.

In his first year with HJK, Kamara played in every league match and was voted for the club MVP of the season. In March 2008, he signed a new three-year contract, which would keep him with HJK until the end of the 2010.[4] In April 2010, Kamara signed a contract extension at HJK to stay with the Finnish champions until June 2011.[5] On 30 August 2010, he played his farewell match for HJK, in a 3–1 victory against IFK Mariehamn.[6]

Despite the fact that he left HJK before the end of the season, Kamara was awarded for the 2010 Veikkausliiga Player of the Year.[7]

Partizan

On 31 August 2010, a day after his last match for HJK, Kamara signed a three-year contract with Serbian side Partizan. He was presented with together with Pierre Boya.[8] Kamara made his debut for the club on 4 September 2010 in a home fixture against Hajduk Kula. He played for the full duration of the match as Hajduk were beaten 2–0. Kamara also made five appearances in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Bolton Wanderers
Kamara (centre) playing for Bolton Wanderers against Chelsea in the League Cup in 2014

On 31 January 2013, Kamara signed for English Championship club Bolton Wanderers on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, subject to international clearance.[9][10] His debut came on 23 February as he came on as a substitute in Bolton's 4–1 win versus Hull City.[11] His first goal for the club came on 30 March against Charlton Athletic as he scored Bolton's second in a 2–3 defeat.[12]

On 19 January 2015, Kamara was officially loaned to Maccabi Haifa for the remainder of the 2014–15 season.[13]

After returning from loan to Bolton, Kamara failed to make any competitive appearance for the club, before being released by mutual agreement in January 2016.[14]

Return to HJK

In March 2016, Kamara returned to his former club HJK.[15]

Kazma SC

On 31 January 2019 it was confirmed, that Kamara had signed for another Kuwaiti side, Kazma SC in the Kuwait Premier League.[16] Kamara had been without club for six months since his departure from Kuwait SC.

International career

Internationally, Kamara played for the Sierra Leonean under-17 team that finished runner-up of the 2003 African U-17 Championship in Swaziland. He was also a member of the same team at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland.

After spending seven years in Finland, Kamara has expressed his wish to play for the Finnish national team, but FIFA ruled this out as they rejected his application to play for Finland in December 2010.[17] After FIFA's decision, Kamara announced his availability for the Sierra Leonean national team and was subsequently called up to face Niger on 27 March 2011.[18] Finally, Kamara debuted for his homeland in that match playing the full 90 minutes.

Statistics
As of 11 March 2016

Club
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
KuPS 2006 230429100363
Total 230429100363
HJK 2007 262407140413
2008 264507000384
2009 233108221346
2010 164316141297
Total 911313128410214220
Partizan 2010–11 18060–50290
2011–12 26040–60360
2012–13 8000–60140
Total 520100–170790
Bolton Wanderers 2012–13 121000000121
2013–14 352202000392
2014–15 5000100060
Total 523203000573
Maccabi Haifa (loan) 2014–15 161100000171
Total 161100000171
HJK 2016 21 1 3 0 0 0 6 0 30 1
Kuwait SC 2016–17 ? 2 ? ? – ? ? ? 2
FC Haka 2020 18 1 3 0 – 0 0 21 1
Career total 2732136340533238231

International
Sierra Leone national team
YearAppsGoals
201140
201241
201340
201461
201540
Total222

International goals
Scores and results list Sierra Leone's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
12 June 2012National Stadium, Freetown Cape Verde1–02–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
219 November 2014Stade Tata Raphaël, Kinshasa DR Congo1–01–32015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours
KuPS
HJK
Partizan
Individual

References
  1. "Jalkapalloilija Medo sai Suomen kansalaisuuden" (in Finnish). karjalainen.fi. 19 March 2010. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  2. "Partizanov Kamara ne može da igra za Finsku" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  3. "I have come here to win, says 'angry' Medo". theboltonnews.co.uk. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  4. "HJK ja Medo jatkosopimukseen" (in Finnish). hjk.fi. 4 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  5. "Medo jatkaa HJK:ssa vuoden 2011 kesäkuun loppuun" (in Finnish). hjk.fi. 6 April 2010. Archived from the original on 11 October 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  6. "HJK 3–1 -voittoon – Hieno ilta päättyi Medon jäähyväisiin" (in Finnish). hjk.fi. 30 August 2010. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  7. "Palloliitto ja Veikkausliiga palkitsivat vuoden parhaita" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. 15 November 2010. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  8. "Kamara i Boya nove akvizicije" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  9. "Bolton: Medo Kamara, Cian Bolger & Steve De Ridder sign". bbc.co.uk. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  10. "Kamara signs for Wanderers". bwfc.co.uk. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  11. "Bolton 4 – 1 Hull City". bwfc.co.uk. 23 February 2013. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  12. "Charlton 3 – 2 Bolton". bbc.co.uk. 30 March 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  13. "Medo Kamara officially loaned to Maccabi Haifa". bwfc.co.uk. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  14. "Medo Kamara leaves Bolton Wanderers". bwfc.co.uk. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  15. "MEDO PALAA KOTIIN" (in Finnish). hjk.fi. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  16. Former Bolton midfielder Kamara joins new Kuwaiti club Kazma, footballsierraleone.net, 31 January 2019
  17. "FIFA ei myönnä Medolle edustusoikeutta Huuhkajiin" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. 9 December 2010. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  18. "Finnish citizen set for S/Leone debut". sierraexpressmedia.com. 15 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
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