Kickoff (Cape Town)
23 September 2008
Holland-based Matthew Amoah says he is still committed to the Black Stars after concerns that the in-form striker wants to turn his back on the nation.
Amoah did not honour an invitation to play in the international friendly against Tanzania but says he still wants to represent the Black Stars.
Amoah was furious at being left out of the Nations Cup squad in January 2008 before pulling out of the squad for four 2010 World Cup qualifiers in June citing injury.
But Ghanaian officials have been unhappy with the attitude of the player and concerns are mounting that he is no longer interested in playing for Ghana.
Amoah says that is a wrong impression and told KickOffGhana.com he will happily pull on the Black Stars shirt again.
"I could not respond to the Tanzania invitation and I told the officials. Before that game my understanding from the letter was for the games against Libya and Lesotho too but I did not hear anything before the Libya game and when I checked on the stories making the rounds, my name was not in," he told KickOffGhana.com.
"I will turn up if I am told to do so for the game against Lesotho. There is no reason for me to decide all of a sudden that I won't play for Ghana again."
Who needs who the most between Ghana and Amoah might ultimately decide how the issue is resolved.
Goal scoring is still a problem for Ghana at the highest level and Amoah's form at the start of the current season could tip the scales in his favour.
The 28-year old scored three times to help Ghana reach the 2006 World Cup and has already been on target four times this season for NAC Breda in the Dutch top flight.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Kickoff. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
