Kei Kamara says his decision to return to international football at the age of 40 was inspired by Cameroon legend Roger Milla.
Kamara was aiming to help Sierra Leone qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), and he played the full 90 minutes in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Chad.
However, the Leone Stars’ hopes of reaching next year’s finals in Morocco were ended after Zambia subsequently secured the remaining qualification spot in Group G.
The forward, who made his debut in 2008, has now played 40 matches for his country, scoring seven goals – but has only ever played at one major international tournament, the 2021 Nations Cup.
In comparison, Milla played at four editions of Afcon, winning two, and three Fifa World Cups.
He still holds the record as the oldest outfield player and goalscorer at a World Cup, netting against Russia at the 1994 finals at the age of 42 years and 39 days, having previously come out of retirement aged 38 to play at the tournament in 1990.
“There’s only one person I think about when I decided to come do this thing all over again, being part of the national team at this age, and that’s Roger Milla,” Kamara told the BBC World Service.
“Roger Milla was doing it, came back out, played at the World Cup at 42.
“The World Cup is only two years ago away, so why not?”
No stranger to retirement
This is not the first time Kamara has done a u-turn on international retirement.
He first hung up his boots in November 2019 before returning a year later to help his nation qualify for the delayed 2021 Nations Cup, which was played in Cameroon in early 2022.
He retired for a second time after the tournament, having missed a penalty in their final group game which could have put the West Africans through to the last 16.
“I thought when I walked away, that was it for me,” he said.
“After playing for 15 years, representing the country, and felt like I was going out with the cherry on top.”
But Kamara’s ongoing career in US Major League Soccer (MLS), where he is now second on the all-time goalscorers list, has led to a change of heart.
“Joining a team like Los Angeles FC this season, and having so much success, and making a couple more histories in America, and everybody just keeps asking, ‘Why are you retiring? Why can’t you be here when you’re doing this much in MLS?’.
“I kind of heard…