Mohamed Kamara

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Medo

Medo with KuPS in 2006
Personal information
Full nameMohamed Kamara
Date of birth (1987-11-16) 16 November 1987
Place of birthBo, Sierra Leone
Height1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionDefensive midfielder
Club information
Current clubBolton Wanderers
Number44
Youth career
2002–2003Kallon
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2006KuPS23(0)
2007–2010HJK91(13)
2010–2013Partizan52(0)
2013–Bolton Wanderers34(2)
National team‡
2003Sierra Leone U173(0)
2011–Sierra Leone12(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 February 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 January 2014

Mohamed Kamara (born 16 November 1987), widely known as Medo, is a Sierra Leonean footballer who plays for Bolton Wanderers and the Sierra Leonean national team. He also holds Finnish citizenship.[1]

Early life

Medo was born 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 with top-division club Kallon in 2002.

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.

Career in Finland

After the FIFA youth tournament, Medo escaped, with a group of his 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 another Partizan gain, 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]

International career

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.[13] 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.[14] Finally, Medo debuted for his homeland in that match playing the full 90 minutes.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 2 June 2012 National Stadium, Freetown  Cape Verde 1–0 2–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Career statistics

Club

As of 6 February 2014
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 221202000261
Total 342202000382
Career total 2001529339527229525

International

As of 4 January 2014
Sierra Leone national team
YearAppsGoals
201140
201241
201340
Total121

Honours

Club

KuPS
HJK
Partizan

Individual

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". The Bolton News. 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 Sport. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013. 
  10. ↑ "Kamara signs for Wanderers". Bolton Wanderers FC. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Bolton 4 – 1 Hull City". Bolton Wanderers FC. 23 February 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013. 
  12. ↑ "Charlton 3 – 2 Bolton". BBC Sport. 30 March 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013. 
  13. ↑ "FIFA ei myönnä Medolle edustusoikeutta Huuhkajiin" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2010. 
  14. ↑ "Finnish citizen set for S/Leone debut". sierraexpressmedia.com. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mohamed Kamara.
2011–12 SuperLiga Team of the Season
Bolton Wanderers F.C. – current squad
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