Henri Camara facts for kids

Henri Camara (born on May 10, 1977) is a former professional footballer from Senegal. He played as a striker, which means he was mainly focused on scoring goals. Henri started his career in the late 1990s and played for many teams in France, Switzerland, Scotland, England, and Greece. He stopped playing football in 2018.

Henri was also a very important player for the Senegal national team. He played 99 games for his country and scored 29 goals between 1999 and 2008. He was part of the Senegal team that made history at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He scored two goals in that tournament, helping Senegal reach the quarter-finals.

Henri Camara's Club Journey

Starting His Career

Henri Camara was born in Dakar, Senegal. He began his football journey in France with Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace in 1998. After that, he moved to Switzerland. He played for Neuchâtel Xamax and then Grasshopper Club Zürich. With Grasshoppers, he won the Swiss Championship in 2001, which was a great achievement. He then went back to France to play for Sedan.

Playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers

In August 2003, Henri joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, a team that had just been promoted to the Premier League in England. He was a regular player and often created chances to score. At first, he didn't score many goals, but towards the end of the season, he scored 6 goals in 9 games. Even though his goals couldn't stop the team from being relegated, fans voted him their Player of the Year.

After the season, Henri didn't want to play in a lower league. He eventually agreed to a loan move to another club.

Loan Spells at Celtic and Southampton

Henri joined Celtic in Scotland for a loan spell in the 2004–05 season. He scored eight goals there. Later that season, he moved back to England on loan to Southampton. Unfortunately, Southampton was also relegated from the Premier League that season.

Time at Wigan Athletic

In August 2005, Henri found a new permanent club: Wigan Athletic. They were new to the Premier League. He signed a three-year deal. In 2006, his contract was extended because he was scoring so many goals. He played very well with his teammate Jason Roberts.

Henri faced another fight against relegation with Wigan, but this time, his team managed to stay in the Premier League on the very last day of the season. He also played in the final of the 2006 Football League Cup.

Later, Henri was loaned out to West Ham United for the 2007–08 season. He then returned to Wigan and scored important goals, including two in a League Cup match and winning goals against Everton and West Bromwich Albion.

In February 2009, Henri joined Stoke City on loan. He left Wigan at the end of the 2008–09 season when his contract ended.

Moving to Sheffield United

After trying out with Hull City, Henri signed a short-term deal with Sheffield United in October 2009. He scored his first goal for them a month later. He played 23 games and scored four goals that season. He left the club when his contract expired.

Playing in Greece

Henri then moved to Greece. On May 11, 2010, he signed a one-year deal with Super League Greece team Atromitos.

He then joined Panetolikos in June 2011. Even though he was their top scorer with 7 goals, his team was relegated. However, he signed another deal with Panetolikos in 2012 and helped them return to the Greek Super League by scoring 13 goals. He signed a third one-year deal with them in 2013.

In May 2014, Henri signed with Kalloni. He later moved to Lamia in February 2015.

Henri returned to Panetolikos F.C. in August 2015 but left in January 2016 to join Apollon Smyrni. He wanted more playing time to try and reach 100 games for the Senegal national team.

He spent his last season, 2017–18, playing for Fostiras in Greece's third division. Henri retired from football in August 2018 when he was 41 years old.

Henri Camara's International Career

Henri Camara played his first international game for Senegal in February 1999. He became famous during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In that tournament, he scored two important goals against Sweden in the Round of 16. One of these was a "golden goal," which meant the game ended as soon as he scored it. This win helped Senegal reach the quarter-finals for the first time ever!

He also played for Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008.

Henri could have played for the Guinea because his father was from there. But he chose to play for Senegal, the country where he was born and grew up. He said it was an easy decision for him.

International Goals

Henri Camara scored 29 goals for the Senegal national team. Here are some of his goals:

List of international goals scored by Henri Camara

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 June 1999	Stade du 4-Août, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso	Burkina Faso	1–0	2–2	1999 African Cup of Nations qualification
2	20 August 1999	Cicero Stadium, Asmara, Eritrea	Eritrea	1–0	2–0	2000 African Cup of Nations qualification
3	25 January 2000	Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano, Nigeria	Burkina Faso	1–0	3–1	2000 African Cup of Nations
4	1 February 2000	National Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria	Zambia	1–0	2–2	2000 African Cup of Nations
5	10 March 2001	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Namibia	4–0	4–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	24 March 2001	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Uganda	2–0	2–0	2002 African Cup of Nations qualification
7	30 December 2001	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Algeria	1–0	1–0	Friendly
8	16 June 2002	Ōita Bank Dome, Ōita, Japan	Sweden	1–1	2–1	2002 FIFA World Cup
9				2–1
10	8 September 2002	Setsoso Stadium, Maseru, Lesotho	Lesotho	1–0	1–0	2004 African Cup of Nations qualification
11	7 June 2003	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Gambia	2–0	3–1	2004 African Cup of Nations qualification
12	14 June 2003	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Lesotho	2–0	3–0	2004 African Cup of Nations qualification
13				3–0
14	18 August 2004	Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Avignon, France	Ivory Coast	1–0	1–2	Friendly
15	5 September 2004	Stade 26 mars, Bamako, Mali	Mali	1–1	2–2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
16	10 October 2004	National Complex, Paynesville, Liberia	Liberia	2–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
17				3–0
18	26 March 2005	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Liberia	4–0	6–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
19	18 June 2005	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Togo	2–1	2–2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
20	8 October 2005	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Mali	1–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
21				3–0
22	23 January 2006	Port Said Stadium, Port Said, Egypt	Zimbabwe	1–0	2–0	2006 Africa Cup of Nations
23	3 February 2006	Harras El-Hedoud Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt	Guinea	3–1	3–2	2006 Africa Cup of Nations
24	8 September 2007	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Burkina Faso	3–1	5–1	2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
25				4–1
26	17 November 2007	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France	Mali	1–0	3–2	Friendly
27	12 January 2008	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Namibia	3–1	3–1	Friendly
28	31 January 2008	Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, Nigeria	South Africa	1–1	1–1	2008 Africa Cup of Nations
29	21 June 2008	Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Liberia	3–0	3–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Awards and Achievements

Wigan Athletic

• Football League Cup runner-up: 2005–06

See also

In Spanish: Henri Camara para niños