It remains every player's dream to play for their national team and most importantly at the biggest competition, the World Cup.
The past few weeks have seen several provisional squad announcements for next month's World Cup finals in South Africa.
Missing the cut for such competitions appears hard to take but for Ghana's Prince Buaben, he's is putting a brave face on the disappointment.
Buaben, 22, who has been in the Ghana squad for a friendly against Mexico, two years ago hopes to continue working to improve his chances of a future role in the Black Stars.
“A few months ago, I spoke to the manager and he said I just had to keep doing well. That gave me a bit of confidence, but I wasn’t really looking towards the World Cup squad,” he says.
“I am still young. The likes of [Michael] Essien, [Sulley] Muntari and others are there, so it was always going to be hard to get in the team. Hopefully, in the future, I will be more involved.”
But as he misses a place in the squad, Buaben is focusing on the upcoming Active Nation Scottish Cup final against Ross County on Saturday as he hopes that his Dundee United can claim glory which he intendeds dedicating to his late father.
Buaben missed the burial service back in Ghana two months ago though he was given permission to attend the funeral.
The Ghana player insisted he would remain in Scotland to see out the season and he says, that was what his late father would have wanted.
“I spoke with my mum and she said that my dad had always wanted me to do my best and be a good person — to work hard at whatever I do,” he says.
“People have said some stuff, asking why I didn’t go to my dad’s funeral, but I spoke to my mum and she told me that I could stay. She told me that it wasn’t going to be a big deal because my dad would always be with me no matter what I do.”
Buaben, who moved with his mother to the Netherlands when he was nine, admits that he didn’t know his father well enough. Only in recent years was he able to strengthen their relationship.
“I always spoke to him, but then, two years ago, I went back to Ghana to see him, and we spent a lot of time together,” he says.
“He was a great dad. The time I spent with him made me really happy, and from that moment, I felt I had my dad with me. He was like a friend to me.”