Ethiopian-born Gadi Kinda of Sporting Kansas City

Gadi Kinda is an Ethiopian-born footballer, who is currently plying his trade with Sporting Kansas City (Major League Soccer). Although he is on a one-year loan from Israeli Premier League side Beitar Jerusalem, Kinda’s loan comes with an option for Sporting to buy the player on a permanent transfer at the end of 2020.

The 25-year-old was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but grew up in Ashdod, Israel. He has five sisters and two brothers and he is the youngest. 

Kinda scored seven goals and assisted on four others in just 16 games in the Israeli Premier League before making the move to Kansas City.

Although he has represented Israel at the U-18, U-19 and U-21 levels, he has yet to earn his first cap for the Israeli Men’s National Team but was selected to the senior squad for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying last fall.

Kinda took no time at all to announce his arrival to MLS in spectacular fashion. His curling, weak-footed effort was one of the nominees for AT&T Goal of the Week, and proved to be the winner for Sporting KC in their opening game of the season against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Even to try to pull off a goal from that angle in his first 30 minutes with a new team was audacious but outlined the confidence of the 25-year-old Ethiopian-born Israeli winger.

“I think I’ve scored more beautiful goals, but it was [an] important goal,” Kinda, whose performance also earned him a spot in the MLS Team of the Week, told MLSSoccer.com.

When he arrived a month ago from Beitar Jerusalem, it was the first time he had left Israel since he was a young boy. It was a move that made him nervous.

Read more at: MLS