He is one of three members of the current Impact roster who played second-division soccer for the club, alongside goalkeeper Evan Bush and defender Wandrille Lefèvre. He has become a true Montrealer who enjoys his city’s every subtlety. He has travelled far and wide with the Impact, from Lockhart Stadium to Estadio Azteca.
And he now holds a pretty significant record.
After 77 minutes, last Saturday in Dallas, Hassoun Camara had become the record-holder for minutes played in MLS for the Impact. While former teammate Felipe left for the New York Red Bulls having logged 7,458 minutes of play, Camara is now up to 7,471.
“It’s greatly satisfying,” Camara said on Tuesday morning. “You go through nice moments and some tougher moments in football, but when you see that you’ve been there throughout the years, it feels like a great show of confidence, and it fills me with pride. I’ve played with great players. I’m very proud to be the player with the most minutes among that group.”
Camara’s nearest competitor on the current roster is club captain Patrice Bernier, who has played 7,143 minutes with Montreal since returning home to North America. These two will likely rule over this stats category for some time: third-placed on the current roster is Andrés Romero, with 5,732 minutes played.
Camara identified his priorities well when he said he would rather have set this record during an Impact win. Still, other records are within his grasp: he is just behind Felipe in terms of games started for the Impact in MLS (86 to 83), and he could one day leapfrog Patrice Bernier in the games played column, although Bernier will keep adding to his total (104 appearances at the moment for Bernier to Camara’s 91).
“Hard work pays off,” Camara said. “I’m really happy about this. I’m very proud to belong to this club and to this city, and I hope this lasts for many more years.”
