Odartey Set for Another Ghana Recall

Ghanaian striker, Nii Odartey Lamptey could make a return to the national team, the Black Stars, after five years out of international football. Ghanaian coach, Fred Osam-Doudu says he has been talking with the 25-year-old China-based player about the possibility of coming down for Sunday's Nations Cup qualifier against Lesotho in Kumasi.

Osam-Duodu had earlier invited Odartey for the last Nations Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe two weeks ago but the player was unable to make the trip because he had just signed for former Chinese champions, Shandong.

Ghana has already qualified for the Nations Cup in Mali but Osam-Doudu has revised his initial 23-man squad of home-based players to invite Austria-based striker, Charles Amoah for the purely academic game against Lesotho.

Odartey has been hailed as a sensation in China after arriving there from German division two side Greuther Furth. He last played for the Black Stars at the 1996 African Cup of Nations in South Africa. His star began to fade and a public row with team captain and national idol Abedi Pele over team selection did little to endear him to the nation.

Odartey became a national hero when he was only 16 years after leading Ghana's Under-17 squad to the World Junior Championship in Italy in 1991. He went on to play at the 1992 and 1994 Nations Cup as well as the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Apart from China and Germany, Odartey has also played club football in Belgium with Anderlecht, Dutch side PSV Eindhoven before moving to England to join Aston Villa and Coventry City in England. His globetrotting career also took him to Union Leira in Portugal and Ankaragucu of Turkey. Odartey has also tasted South American football before, appearing briefly for Union Santa Fe in Argentina.