Mohamed Kamara

Medo

Medo with KuPS in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Mohamed Kamara
Date of birth	16 November 1987
Place of birth	Port Loko, Sierra Leone
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team	HJK
Number	4
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	2	(1)
National team^‡
2003	Sierra Leone U17	3	(0)
2011–	Sierra Leone	22	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 April 2016. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 March 2016

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

Early life

Medo 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 Medo himself.^[3]

Club career

Early career

Medo 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, Medo 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

After playing for the national youth selection in Finland, Medo escaped along with several teammates from their accommodation and applied for asylum. After he got asylum, Medo was ineligible to play professional football until his 18th birthday. During the waiting period, he trained with LehPa-77 in Kontiolahti. Medo 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, Medo 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, Medo 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, Medo was awarded for the 2010 Veikkausliiga Player of the Year.^[7]

Partizan

On 31 August 2010, a day after his last match for HJK, Medo signed a three-year contract with Serbian side Partizan. He was presented with together with Pierre Boya.^[8] Medo 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. Medo also made five appearances in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Bolton Wanderers

On 31 January 2013, Medo 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, Medo was officially loaned to Maccabi Haifa for the remainder of the 2014–15 season.^[13]

After returning from loan to Bolton, Medo 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, Medo returned to his former club HJK.^[15]

International career

Internationally, Medo 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, Medo 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.^[16] After FIFA's decision, Medo announced his availability for the Sierra Leonean national team and was subsequently called up to face Niger on 27 March 2011.^[17] Finally, Medo 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
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
KuPS	2006	23	0	4	2	9	1	0	0	36	3
	Total	23	0	4	2	9	1	0	0	36	3
HJK	2007	26	2	4	0	7	1	4	0	41	3
	2008	26	4	5	0	7	0	0	0	38	4
	2009	23	3	1	0	8	2	2	1	34	6
	2010	16	4	3	1	6	1	4	1	29	7
	Total	91	13	13	1	28	4	10	2	142	20
Partizan	2010–11	18	0	6	0	–		5	0	29	0
	2011–12	26	0	4	0	–		6	0	36	0
	2012–13	8	0	0	0	–		6	0	14	0
	Total	52	0	10	0	–		17	0	79	0
Bolton Wanderers	2012–13	12	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	1
	2013–14	35	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	39	2
	2014–15	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	6	0
	Total	52	3	2	0	3	0	0	0	57	3
Maccabi Haifa	2014–15	16	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	17	1
	Total	16	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	17	1
Career total		234	17	30	3	40	5	27	2	331	27

International

Sierra Leone national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2011	4	0
2012	4	1
2013	4	0
2014	6	1
2015	4	0
Total	22	2

International goals

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
• Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2011–12

References

1. "Jalkapalloilija Medo sai Suomen kansalaisuuden" (in Finnish). karjalainen.fi. 19 March 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. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
5. "Medo jatkaa HJK:ssa vuoden 2011 kesäkuun loppuun" (in Finnish). hjk.fi. 6 April 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
6. "HJK 3–1 -voittoon – Hieno ilta päättyi Medon jäähyväisiin" (in Finnish). hjk.fi. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
7. "Palloliitto ja Veikkausliiga palkitsivat vuoden parhaita" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. 15 November 2010. 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. 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. "FIFA ei myönnä Medolle edustusoikeutta Huuhkajiin" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
17. "Finnish citizen set for S/Leone debut". sierraexpressmedia.com. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.

External links

• Mohamed Kamara profile at Soccerway
• Mohamed Kamara – FIFA competition record
• Mohamed Kamara – UEFA competition record
• Mohamed Kamara at National-Football-Teams.com