CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 21, 2023

Kei Kamara

Press Conference

New York City 1, Chicago Fire 0

Q. First of all, want to know your thoughts on the game.

KEI KAMARA: Yeah, it's decision day, you know. You don't want to be in the position of hoping this happened and hope this happened and hope this happened. You want to be in control of your own destiny somehow when you come to this last part of the season, and now unfortunately for us today it didn't work out how we wanted it to go.

But that's the nature of the sport. You know, go back and build again and build stronger and stronger. Always try to be better than the year before. So for me personally, yes, I feel disappointed because we want to play in the playoffs. Because here in the history of this club not being in the playoffs for a little while, you want to be part of that history to change that history, so that's unfortunate.

Q. You earn personally with your contract, have you thought about it?

KEI KAMARA: Yes, I've thought about. It what I've thought about is I'm going to play another season in the MLS. I'm not done yet. Obviously I think this is my last game for the club, so I'll be moving on. I'll play another season. I've enjoyed myself and representing this club and the things that we achieved this year playing with some of these younger players, Javi, I and all these guys around here, it's been amazing for me and something I'm going to hold dearly to my heart.

Yes, it was great for me to come here and say I played for an historic club of the Chicago Fire, but next year I'll be back in MLS.

Q. In terms of this experience in Chicago, being that guy who came in a little late, came under Ezra but you were instantly the older veteran but that veteran who is there in training every day. What have you gotten out of this year personally?

KEI KAMARA: No, that's perfect, you said that, really being there and training every day, because that's my career there. And if I feel like if I start taking days off, that's the end of my career. The fact that I still have energy to be there and to push the guys around me, when they see me, being the vet, the oldest guy on the team and if they see me there every day, they have to check themselves and what they are doing.

Like I said, it's been a really great experience for me to come here and be part of this. It's never easy with a change of coaches when that happened. It was really super early in the year for us to change to the new. But when we did, we had a good spell, too. We had a few games under our belt that was going well but ups and downs in the season.

Again, I really, really wish and hope because you know with the ownership of this club, the division is amazing and the training center that's coming up. So you can see where the club wants to get to, is really up there. So you hope the people that's around, it's going to have that same foundation and continue to push it.

Q. The goals record, is that going to drive you through the off-season?

KEI KAMARA: I'm coming back next year. That's what it is. Definitely I enjoy scoring goals all the time but I think if you guys have seen me around, the thing that means so much to me right now is what impact I give to the guys around me, how I push, whether it's the next striker or younger guys, to challenge them and what's going to push me to say, it's not done yet.