Assistant coach of the Black Stars, Maxwell Konadu has disclosed players are called to the national team based in merit.

Kwesi Appiah has announced his 30-man squad for next month games against Ethiopia in the 2019 AFCON qualifiers and in an international friendly matches against Mexico and USA.

The Black Stars will take on Ethiopia in a Cup of Nations qualifier at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.

Kwesi Appiah has called seven locally based players to the national team.

However, the list also saw the omission of some familiar names including Christian Atsu, Mubarak Wakaso, Razak Brimah and Jeffery Schlupp which sparked controversy among several football fandom in the country.

In an interaction with the media, the Wa All Stars and Asante Kotoko coach revealed players are only called to the national team based merit.

"The call-ups are always done on merit, we observe all the players across the club and in Ghana, and we make sure we always chose the best to represent Ghana at every competition.

"As Coaches we always want the best for Ghana and we also want to excel with the team and so we make sure we always choose the best." He added.