Sporting Kansas City forward Kei Kamara scored twice in the first half for the Sierra Leone national team today in their African Cup of Nations qualifier against Sao Tome e Principe at National Stadium in Freetown, according to online reports. Kamara started his third match of the month for the Leone Stars and scored his first two international goals to help his homeland advance to the second round of qualifying for the 2013 African Cup of Nations.
The Leone Stars entered Saturday's decisive second leg trailing 2-1 on aggregate and conceded a goal in the game's opening minutes, but Kamara struck twice in the opening half hour en route to a 4-1 halftime lead. Sierra Leone went on to win 4-2 and become one of 30 teams to advance to the second and final round of qualifying. The qualifiers will be held in September and October prior to the African Cup of Nations, hosted by South Africa in January 2013, and will be played in a home-and-away, aggregate goal series.
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Prior to Saturday, Kamara and Sierra Leone earned back-to-back results in World Cup qualifying. He started and played the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 win over Cape Verde Islands on June 2nd and also went the full 90 in a 2-2 draw at Equatorial Guinea one week ago. With four points, Sierra Leone sits in second place in Group B behind leaders Tunisia.
Kamara leads Sporting Kansas City with five goals this season and has scored 25 times for the club since arriving in 2009.
