Kei Kamara suffers leg injury in training, could miss MLS Cup final

Columbus Crew forward Kei Kamara could miss the 2015 MLS Cup final after picking up a right leg injury in training Saturday, one day before the last fixture of the season against the Portland Timbers.

"I haven't had a chance to assess it yet," Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter told reporters. "So I'm going to go in the locker room and figure out what happened and figure out what the treatment is and if he is going to be available. My guess right now is that he'd be available."

Doug McIntyre of ESPN initially reported that Kamara's knock appears on the milder side:

Berhalter was asked whether he would risk playing Kamara, even if he wasn't fully fit.

"I can't say that right now," Berhalter said. "I have to really assess what's wrong with him. I wouldn't put a player at risk. That's not my style. That's not our style of the club. We'll have to assess where he's at."

Kamara has been instrumental in Columbus' successes in the 2015 season, scoring 22 goals in the regular season and adding three more in the playoffs to drive his team to the MLS Cup final.

His absence would leave the Crew not just without its top striker, but without the player around whom the entirety of the squad has established its playing style. Ethan Finlay, Justin Meram, and Federico Higuain, combined with onrushing full-back Harrison Afful, form an attack-minded support system that feeds crosses - both driven and looping overhead - looking for the head or opportunistic foot of Kamara in the box.

Without Kamara, Berhalter says his team's style of play "would change."

"The top goal-scorer in the league would not be playing in this game so it would affect us," Berhalter said. "We'd have to regroup, come up with another idea, another plan and try to execute it within 27 hours, a short period of time."

"I think he'll be all right," Berhalter added.