Matthew Amoah could play his first game for Ghana this year after he was named in the squad for the match against Lesotho on October 11, but he has earned a call up purely on footballing grounds according to manager Milovan Rajevac.

The striker who hasn’t been part of the team throughout this year after failing to make it into the squad for the African Cup of Nations early this year was named in the 22-man list released on Wednesday.

Ghana, third on the table plays Lesotho at home at the Sekondi Sports Stadium in the final Group 5 match with a good win expected to guarantee the Black Stars a place amongst the final 20 teams who would play for the five qualifying spots available to Africa at the 2010 World Cup.

The Black Stars missed the chance to top the Group 5 table after defeat to Libya in Tripoli in their last match and must win the crucial game against Lesotho.

A few changes were made to the squad that lost to Libya but the Black Stars coach says the selection of Matthew Amoah in his Ghana squad was the result of neither sympathy nor pressure.

The coach insist that the player who is yet to turn 28 earned it, having scored of six goals for club, NEC Breda in the Dutch Eredivise after four games.

Milovan said in a statement to www.ghanafa.org: “When I came, I said that the national team door will remain open and whoever plays well will get in; Amoah has been consistently playing well, scoring six goals so far this season. He deserves a chance.”

Amoah played a starring role in Ghana’s qualification to her first-ever World Cup in Germany, scoring three goals in three successive matches during the qualifiers.

His scoring rate and international experience is what Milovan Rajevac is counting on to shore up Ghana’s qualification bid.

“Mathew plays in a very competitive league and he has proved that he is capable of scoring. He also has a lot of international experience and he is the kind of player who can bring competition in the Black Stars.”