At first, Kei Kamara sounded almost incredulous at the very idea. Then he readily admitted it was an understandable question.
Did he give any thought to retirement over the winter, after LAFC declined his 2025 contract option following the conclusion of their ‘24 season? He’d turned 40 a couple of months prior – rarified air for any field player anywhere on earth – and with 147 goals in 445 MLS regular-season appearances and a résumé packed with myriad team and individual honors, he’d have every right to ride into the sunset.
“But no,” Kamara told reporters in the wake of his signing with FC Cincinnati on Monday. “No, I did not, for a second, [think] I was done playing when I finished with LAFC.
"Obviously, after the season that I had, even going into the summer, to the winter, our conversations definitely didn't lead me into thinking I'm hanging it up this year. But I was looking forward to the next one.”
Ageless wonder
And why not? He scored eight goals and five assists across all competitions for the Black & Gold last year, including the insurance goal in extra time of the US Open Cup final that delivered that trophy to LAFC for the first time, and the opener in their July 4 El Tráfico victory over eventual MLS Cup champs the LA Galaxy in front of 70,076 fans at the Rose Bowl, both trademark towering headers.
For the last several years, his employers keep deciding – at least on some level – that Kamara is done. And time and again, he’s proven them wrong, landing somewhere new and making an impact, padding those remarkable career numbers in the process.
Last June he passed Landon Donovan as the second-highest goalscorer in league history, leaving only Chris Wondolowski’s iconic 171 to beat. Less than a year before that, he was in Washington, D.C. as a member of the MLS All-Star squad.
Those sort of data points loom far larger than the curiosity of Cincy being his league-record 12th club. It’s probably no accident that Kamara’s newest stop is at a bona fide title contender. The Knifey Lions (25 points, 8W-3L-1D) currently top the Eastern Conference standings and aren’t making this acquisition out of charity or nostalgia.
“We look past the age,” head coach Pat Noonan said. “The way he takes care of himself, and what we've seen from, most recently, his time with LAFC, [he’s] a very powerful attacking piece, somebody that with his back to goal is very strong in being able to link up with his midfield.
“[On] crossing situations, there's very few that have had more success in our league with attacking crosses, with being an asset on set pieces; still a very willing runner, whether that's to stretch the field or to help the team press. He can still do all those things. So we're excited to have him.”
Still driven
That longevity appears more and more remarkable with every passing year, and carries value on and off the pitch. Kamara instantly becomes Cincy’s oldest player by eight full years, and actually sits closer in age to Noonan (age 44) and general manager Chris Albright (46) than most of their current squad, where a trio of young homegrowns are half his age or less.
“I'm going to 45,” he wisecracked, before revealing that his new teammate Miles Robinson had raised the topic of his age during an LAFC win over the Ohio side last fall.
“I told Miles that today,” said Kamara. “The last time I played against FCC, Miles came up to me on the field and he goes 'Dude, you're really 40?' And I'm like, ‘Yeah, don't you worry.’ So I just love that. I love this little banter on the field … It's good for me. I've always been active. I love running, I love cross country, I love just staying healthy – no drinking, no smoking, all those things. I just love my body and I just want to compete, you know?
“I feel like if I push myself as much, then hopefully the next younger guy next to me [will too], because that's how I used to look at it. I saw guys playing to 33, 35 and I was like, ‘OK, I want to pass them.’ So if I've done that, then hopefully some other guys can try to pass me.”
He’s already got a track record in that department, having helped mentor the likes of Alphonso Davies, Ismaël Koné and Brian Gutiérrez over the years. It helps he was once in their shoes: Kamara actually played against Albright and Noonan for several years early in his career, as Noonan had to wryly acknowledge on Monday.
“I wasn't blessed with his physical attributes and maybe his discipline,” said the coach of his evergreen counterpart. “No, that wasn't an option for me.”
Chasing Wondo
Could Kei still reel in the great Wondo for the top spot on the all-time scoring chart? FCC Designated Player Kévin Denkey, one of MLS’s elite No. 9s, sits ahead of him on the depth chart, which on first blush makes another 24 goals look like a tall order – though perhaps less so if he really does follow through on the goal of playing another five years.
If and when he takes the pitch for Cincy this season, it will mark his 20th in MLS. For a refugee kid from Sierra Leone who overcame innumerable obstacles just to reach the professional level at all, who’s in any position to say he can’t go a little while longer?
“Just one thing,” Kamara joked. “At the stadium [during pregame introductions], I see they put people's names and age – mine’s going ‘N/A.’ Like, that can't happen, no, no. But no way, I love it. I love it because it shows that it's not the age – people always say that, but just work, just work. The harder you work, the more you can achieve whatever you want.”
