Medo Kamara

Medo Kamara

Medo with KuPS in 2006
Personal information
Date of birth	(1987-11-16) 16 November 1987 (age 36)
Place of birth	Port Loko, Sierra Leone
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	HJS
Number	6
Youth career
1999–2002	Sierra Rangers
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	Kazma
2020	Haka	18	(1)
2022–2023	Gnistan	31	(1)
2024–	HJS	26	(2)
International career‡
2003	Sierra Leone U17	3	(0)
2011–2021	Sierra Leone	33	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 October 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 September 2022

Mohamed Kamara (born 16 November 1987), widely known as Medo, is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for HJS. He also holds Finnish citizenship. ^{[1] [2]}

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. ^[3] However, this is a claim that has since been denied by Kamara himself. ^[4]

Club career

Early career

Kamara started playing football in his school at the age of seven. His older brother, Kemoh Kamara, was teaching in the school and also taught 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. ^[5] In April 2010, Kamara signed a contract extension at HJK to stay with the Finnish champions until June 2011. ^[6] On 30 August 2010, he played his farewell match for HJK, in a 3–1 victory against IFK Mariehamn. ^[7]

Despite the fact that he left HJK before the end of the season, Kamara was awarded for the 2010 Veikkausliiga Player of the Year. ^[8]

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. ^[9] 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. ^{[10] [11]} His debut came on 23 February as he came on as a substitute in Bolton's 4–1 win versus Hull City. ^[12] His first goal for the club came on 30 March against Charlton Athletic as he scored Bolton's second in a 2–3 defeat. ^[13]

On 19 January 2015, Kamara was officially loaned to Maccabi Haifa for the remainder of the 2014–15 season. ^[14]

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. ^[15]

Return to HJK

In March 2016, Kamara returned to his former club HJK. ^[16]

Kazma

On 31 January 2019, it was confirmed that Kamara had signed for another Kuwaiti side, Kazma SC in the Kuwait Premier League. ^[17] Kamara had been without club for six months since his departure from Kuwait SC.

In 2022 Medo signed contract with Finnish second division club Gnistan. In 2024 he joined Finnish club HJS, which plays third tier football in Finland.

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. ^[18] 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. ^[19] Finally, Kamara debuted for his homeland in that match playing the full 90 minutes.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 29 October 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
KuPS	2006	Veikkausliiga	23	0	4	2	9	1	0	0	—		36	3
HJK	2007	Veikkausliiga	26	2	4	0	7	1	4 [lower-alpha 1]	0	—		41	3
	2008	Veikkausliiga	26	4	5	0	7	0	0	0	—		38	4
	2009	Veikkausliiga	23	3	1	0	8	2	2 [lower-alpha 2]	1	—		34	6
	2010	Veikkausliiga	16	4	3	1	6	1	4 [lower-alpha 3]	1	—		29	7
	Total		91	13	13	1	28	4	10	2	—		142	20
Partizan	2010–11	Serbian SuperLiga	18	0	6	0	–		5 [lower-alpha 3]	0	—		29	0
	2011–12	Serbian SuperLiga	26	0	4	0	–		6 [lower-alpha 4]	0	—		36	0
	2012–13	Serbian SuperLiga	8	0	0	0	–		6 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		14	0
	Total		52	0	10	0	–		17	0	—		79	0
Bolton Wanderers	2012–13	Championship	12	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		12	1
	2013–14	Championship	35	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	—		39	2
	2014–15	Championship	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	—		6	0
	Total		52	3	2	0	3	0	0	0	—		57	3
Maccabi Haifa (loan)	2014–15	Israeli Premier League	16	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		17	1
HJK	2016	Veikkausliiga	21	1	3	0	0	0	6 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		30	1
Kuwait SC	2016–17	Kuwait Premier League	?	2	?	?	–		?	?	—		?	2
	2017–18	Kuwait Premier League	?	1	?	?	–		?	?	—		?	1
	Total		?	3	?	?	–		?	?	–		?	3
FC Haka	2020	Veikkausliiga	18	1	3	0	–		0	0	—		21	1
IF Gnistan	2022	Ykkönen	8	0	0	0	–		0	0	—		8	0
	2023	Ykkönen	23	1	7	0	–		—		2 [lower-alpha 5]	0	32	1
	Total		31	1	7	0	–		—		2	0	40	1
Career total			304	23	43	3	40	5	33	2	2	0	422	33

1. Appearances in UEFA Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
4. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in Relegation playoffs

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sierra Leone	2011	4	0
	2012	5	1
	2013	4	0
	2014	6	1
	2015	4	0
	2016	5	0
	2017	1	0
	2018	1	0
	2020	2	0
	2021	1	0
Total		33	2

Scores and results list Sierra Leone's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 June 2012	National Stadium, Freetown	Cape Verde	1–0	2–1	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	19 November 2014	Stade Tata Raphaël, Kinshasa	DR Congo	1–0	1–3	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

KuPS

• Finnish League Cup: 2006

HJK

• Veikkausliiga: 2009
• Finnish Cup: 2008

Partizan

• Serbian SuperLiga: 2010–11, 2011–12
• Serbian Cup: 2010–11

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Player of the Year: 2010 ^[20]
• Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2011–12

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. "Who is Mohamed Kamara: Everything You Need to Know? – Fifa world cup katar". 17 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
3. "Partizanov Kamara ne može da igra za Finsku" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
4. "I have come here to win, says 'angry' Medo". theboltonnews.co.uk. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
5. "HJK ja Medo jatkosopimukseen" (in Finnish). hjk.fi. 4 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
6. "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.
7. "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.
8. "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.
9. "Kamara i Boya nove akvizicije" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
10. "Bolton: Medo Kamara, Cian Bolger & Steve De Ridder sign". BBC Sport. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
11. "Kamara signs for Wanderers". bwfc.co.uk. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
12. "Bolton 4 – 1 Hull City". bwfc.co.uk. 23 February 2013. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
13. "Charlton 3 – 2 Bolton". BBC Sport. 30 March 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
14. "Medo Kamara officially loaned to Maccabi Haifa". bwfc.co.uk. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
15. "Medo Kamara leaves Bolton Wanderers". bwfc.co.uk. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
16. "MEDO PALAA KOTIIN" (in Finnish). hjk.fi. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
17. Former Bolton midfielder Kamara joins new Kuwaiti club Kazma, footballsierraleone.net, 31 January 2019
18. "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.
19. "Finnish citizen set for S/Leone debut". sierraexpressmedia.com. 15 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
20. veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish)

External links

• Medo Kamara at Soccerway
• Medo Kamara – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Medo Kamara – UEFA competition record ( archive )
• Medo Kamara at National-Football-Teams.com