Kei Kamara, second-leading all-time MLS scorer, retires at age 41
A day that seemed like it would never come for American soccer fans is here: Veteran MLS forward Kei Kamara is retiring from soccer.
The 41-year-old has been a constant in American soccer since he signed his first professional contract with the Columbus Crew in 2006. While he made detours to Norwich City, Middlesbrough and Finnish club HIFK, Kamara spent most of the next two decades suiting up for various MLS teams. He retires as the league's second all-time leading scorer, bagging 147 goals in the regular season for a dozen teams.
"I never played for just one crest," Kamara said in a video posted to social media announcing the decision. "I played for the love of the game, and the places it carried me."
Those places included Kansas City, where the video was filmed and where Kamara scored 38 goals for a team that was known as the Wizards when he arrived and Sporting Kansas City where he left; Columbus, where he had his best single season with 22 goals and eight assists plus four playoff goals in 2015; and Los Angeles, where at age 40 he scored to help LAFC win the U.S. Open Cup.
While he made his home in the U.S. and became a citizen in 2006, Kamara often made arduous journeys back to Sierra Leone to represent the national team. He closes his career with 45 appearances for the Leone Stars, more than all but one player, and is tied as the nation's all-time top scorer with eight international goals.
He also started Heart Shaped Hands, a foundation named for his trademark goal celebration that works to fund scholarships and pay school fees for children in Sierra Leone.
He is yet to announce his post-playing plans but has a wife and three kids, one of which asks in the Instagram video, "Dad, where are we going now?" Kamara responds, "We’re going home."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kei Kamara, MLS veteran, Sierra Leone legend, announces retirement
