Samuel Opoku Nti (born 23 January 1961) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Biography

Opoku Nti was born in

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

. He is generally considered to have been Ghana's top footballer in the early to mid-1980s; before the international advent of Abedi Pele. Opoku Nti featured in Ghana's victorious 1982 African cup winning side as well as the unsuccessful 1984 squad; which was eliminated in the 1st round of the competition. In the 1992 African Cup, he was controversially left on the substitutes bench for the majority of the tournament in favour of Mohammed Gargo, Stanley Aboraa, and Nii Lamptey - all of whom were considerably less experienced than Nti. His nickname is "Zico," in honour of the Brazilian footballer and 1983 FIFA player of the year. In 1983 Opoku Nti, while playing for

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional sports, professional association football, football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''African crested ...

, finished as runner-up for the prestigious France Football African Footballer of the Year award. The African Sportswriters Association named him Africa's best player, in the same year. This was the year that Opoku Nti's match-winning goal made Asante Kotoko win the Africa Clubs Championship by beating Egypt's Al-Ahly in the final at Kumasi. It was one of the most memorable goals in Ghana soccer. In 1984 Opoku Nti moved to Swiss champions

Servette FC Servette FC is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on ...

. After spending just one season with the club and falling out with the coach, Nti moved to

Ottmar Hitzfeld Ottmar Hitzfeld (; born 12 January 1949) is a German former professional football player and a former manager. He accumulated a total of 18 major titles, mostly in his tenures with Grasshopper Club Zürich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. ...

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss professional football club based in Aarau. Founded in 1902, the club competes in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from the Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was form ...

, where he spent the next three seasons, before moving to another Swiss side

FC Baden Fussballclub Baden 1897, simply known as FC Baden, is a Swiss football club based in Baden, Canton Aargau, which is a short distance from Zürich. It was founded in 1897. FC Baden has a total of 22 different teams at age levels, including fiv ...

. he was the manager of FC Africa n football team.

External links

Ghanaweb article
* 1961 births Living people Ghanaian men's footballers Footballers from Kumasi Men's association football forwards Ghana men's international footballers Africa Cup of Nations–winning players CAF Champions League–winning players 1982 African Cup of Nations players 1984 African Cup of Nations players 1992 African Cup of Nations players Asante Kotoko S.C. players Servette FC players FC Aarau players FC Baden players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland 20th-century Ghanaian sportsmen {{Ghana-footy-forward-stub