Who knew that a simple penalty kick could create such a contentious situation for a team?
That appears to be the situation for Columbus Crew SC in the aftermath of the club’s 4-4 draw with Montreal on Saturday.
In case you’ve been living under a rock or you just don’t follow MLS (shame on you!), here’s the background on what transpired. Columbus had a 3-1 lead in the 51st minute of the game when left winger Justin Meram was taken down in the box. That prompted a penalty call from referee Armando Villarreal.
With forward Kei Kamara already on a brace after two first half goals, it seemed a given he’d take the kick. This is especially true considering he had never had a hat trick in his entire pro career dating back to 2006. After an MVP-caliber 2015, the only thing missing from his second stint in Columbus (he also played for Crew SC from 2006-07) was a three-goal outing.
But here’s where it got complicated.
Apparently attacking midfielder Federico Higuaín was unconcerned about the fact Kamara was on a hat trick. Because he was adamant that he be the one to expand Crew SC’s lead to three goals. This led to an argument between the two which forced team captain Michael Parkhurst to intervene. Eventually, Higuaín got his wish and converted the penalty to make it 4-1.
Kamara was visibly upset once it became apparent he wasn’t going to be taking the kick. He was nowhere near the team celebration after the ball found net. The resulting discord between him and Higuaín may have contributed to how disjointed the club looked for the rest of the game. It certainly isn’t normal to blow a three-goal lead in the span of roughly 35 minutes.
The situation wasn’t going away when the final whistle blew. In fact, it only went downhill from there. And the fallout from what transpired post-game has the potential to create a radioactive situation in the Crew SC locker room.
Kei Kamara with Right Sentiment, Wrong Approach in Crew SC PK Spat
For it was then that Kamara came in with the verbal heavy artillery. In discussing Higuaín’s insistence on taking the penalty despite his chance at a hat trick, Kamara stated to reporters:
“That’s selfish. That’s not teammates. That’s selfishness.”
And it didn’t end there.
“How long have I been here?” he told Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch. “How many goals have I scored? How many have come from (Higuaín’s) assists? One, maybe two. So I don’t depend on him. I depend on Ethan (Finlay) and my outside backs to pass me the ball.”
Suffice it to say, shots fired. And from a team chemistry standpoint, these particular shots might be armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.
But here’s the thing. Kamara has every right to be upset. It’s in the nature of a pure goal-scoring center forward to want to do exactly that, score goals, as frequently as possible. Star number nines live for that feeling of glory when the supporters cheer ecstatically after their flare and brilliance leads to a goal. It’s a position that almost requires one to have a personality bordering on the egotistical and downright narcissistic.
The great NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson once had a famous line that turned into the title of a book he wrote: “Just Give Me The Damn Ball.” In many respects, soccer center forwards and football wide receivers have a lot in common. Their objective is to score and, whenever possible, to do so in aesthetically pleasing fashion. And when they feel their being unfairly prevented from doing so, that’s when the diva comes out.
So it’s understandable for Kamara to elicit some frustration and consternation in the heat of the moment. Having said that, he is still required to adhere to the team concept. This entails resolving disputes internally rather than throwing your teammate under the bus in post-game comments to the media.
And in that regard, he certainly failed pretty miserably. And for his efforts, the club announced Tuesday that he’s been suspended for Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rapids.
Head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter has what may be his biggest challenge since he took over. How do you pick up the pieces and attempt to put back together what is arguably a fractured locker room? There’s no doubting his ability as a tactical mastermind. It’s what spearheaded Crew SC’s run to MLS Cup last year. Now he must also function as a manager of personalities. Both are indispensable prerequisites of the job.
But if the toxicity of this situation continues to metastasize, he may not have to. Because the relationship between these two 31-year-olds born less than two months apart might be poisoned to the point that it’s beyond repair. And that might necessitate shipping either of them out of Columbus before Wednesday’s primary transfer window deadline.
You would hope that it wouldn’t come to that. You would hope that cooler heads would prevail. You would hope that this situation could be resolved without having to go nuclear option by having to engineer a trade.
Hope can be a fickle beast at times.
So can the personality of your center forward. Hell hath no fury like a striker on the wrong end of 30 robbed of a chance at perhaps the only hat trick of his career. Unfortunately, his current club is caught in the whirlwind. And the ramifications of his post-game rant and subsequent musings to the media (see this one from after training on Tuesday) could have the potential to derail their season.
All of this over a simple penalty kick. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you haven’t.
Photo courtesy of Columbus Crew SC Communications.
