Amido Balde has been given an international call up by Guinea-Bissau.
The 24-year-old has been included in a provisional squad of 40 put together by Paulo Torres with the emphasis very much on players with experience of playing in Portugal.
Balde has managed just one goal this season, on his debut for Waasland-Beveren but failed to find the net in 13 more appearances.
A January switch to Hapoel Tel Aviv failed to bring a change in fortune with no goals coming from five starts and four appearances as a substitute.
Guinea-Bissau have been drawn in Group E and open their campaign away to Zambia on June 13. Torres will bring his 40 man squad together next week and whittle it down to 23 for the match with Zambia giving Balde the chance to make his international debut.
Neil Lennon described Balde as ‘a project’ when he was signed but quickly dropped out of the first team picture scoring just two top team goals in his first season at the club with most of his appearances coming off the bench.
Scoring the only goal of the Dublin Decider against Liverpool hinted at what the powerful striker may be capable of but he was unable to make his mark in the Celtic side.
After signing a four year deal in 2013 Balde said: “I want to face this challenge, I want to give my best day by day to achieve big things at this club.
“It’s easy to be motivated here because Celtic is a very big club with very good players. Because of that it is fantastic to be here.
“I have seen a lot of matches with Celtic and their players. I want to feel the same way my team-mates felt when they beat Barcelona. I want that feeling they got when they played in the Champions League.
“I felt proud watching that game with Celtic winning against such a big side like Barcelona. It means that Celtic are a very good club and their supporters are too.
“Celtic has won so many trophies and are one of the biggest clubs in Europe. We’re going to play in the Champions League and that’s why I am here.”
It’s unlikely that Balde will feature in Ronny Deila’s first team plans.
