Kei Kamara keeps inching towards history.
The 38-year-old striker scored his 144th career MLS regular-season goal on Wednesday night, nodding home in the 83rd minute to seal Chicago Fire FC's 2-1 win at the Portland Timbers – their first-ever victory at Providence Park.
Kamara is just one goal behind American soccer legend Landon Donovan (145) for second place on the league's all-time scoring chart.
"I love it. I enjoy this. I enjoy scoring goals!" Kamara's joy was effusive after the game. "But when you can score goals like this one tonight, it's a huge one to give the team all three points on the road in a place like Portland. To me, that's what matters."
In a cross-generational moment, 19-year-old Brian Gutiérrez delivered the assist for Kamara. The homegrown attacker was just two years old when Kamara made his MLS debut in 2006 for the Columbus Crew. He now has seven assists on the season, just two off league leader Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), and was responsible for setting up both of the Fire's goals in Portland.
"My son will be happy. My son Kendrick loves Brian," joked Kamara after the match. "All he talks about is 'Gutiérrez, Gutiérrez'. When I tell him that [he got the assist], he's probably celebrating the fact that he passed me the ball."
"He's a great player," Kamara continued. "When he plays in the middle of the field, he links us and finds the ball. He knows what to do. We enjoy doing that and we want to also give him credit for what he's doing when he does have the ball. For me, I love seeing the smile on his face."
Kamara's next goal will be a historic one, drawing level with Donovan behind Chris Wondolowski's record 171 goals. With 5g/1a in 15 games this year since a preseason trade away from CF Montréal, that seems within reach for the veteran.
Scoring on Saturday (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass) as part of Matchday 21 would make it even more special. Chicago visit Sporting Kansas City, for whom Kamara made 113 regular-season appearances, the most he's played for any MLS club in a career spanning 10 total teams.
"Next week I'll be playing in front of my kids in Kansas City," he smiled. "It's just a lot of pressure. Now I got to think about getting another goal."
