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{{Short description|Ghanaian footballer (born 1961)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name        = Opoku Nti
| image       = 
| full_name   = Samuel Opoku Nti
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1961|01|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Kumasi]], Ghana
| height      = 
| position    = [[Forward (association football)|Forward]]
| youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = 
| years1 = 1980–1985 | clubs1 = [[Asante Kotoko SC|Asante Kotoko]] | caps1 =    | goals1 = 
| years2 = 1985–1986 | clubs2 = [[Servette FC|Servette]]           | caps2 = 17 | goals2 = 4
| years3 = 1986–1989 | clubs3 = [[FC Aarau|Aarau]]                 | caps3 =  | goals3 = 
| years4 = 1989–1990 | clubs4 = [[FC Baden|Baden]]                 | caps4 =  | goals4 = 
| years5 = 1990–1992 | clubs5 = FC Glarus                          | caps5 =  | goals5 = 
| nationalyears1 = 1981–1992 | nationalteam1 = [[Ghana national football team|Ghana]] | nationalcaps1 = 45 | nationalgoals1 = 12
}}

'''Samuel Opoku Nti''' (born 23 January 1961) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a [[forward (association football)|forward]].

== Biography ==
Opoku Nti was born in [[Kumasi]]. 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]], 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]]. After spending just one season with the club and falling out with the coach, Nti moved to [[Ottmar Hitzfeld]]'s [[FC Aarau]], where he spent the next three seasons, before moving to another Swiss side [[FC Baden]]. he was the manager of FC Africa n football team.

== External links ==
* [http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/soccer/artikel.php?ID=20483 Ghanaweb article]
* {{Worldfootball.net|samuel-opoku-nti}}

{{1982 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament}}
{{Ghana Squad 1982 Africa Cup of Nations}}
{{Ghana Squad 1984 Africa Cup of Nations}}
{{Ghana Squad 1992 Africa Cup of Nations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nti, Opoku}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Ghanaian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Footballers from Kumasi]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Ghana men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Africa Cup of Nations–winning players]]
[[Category:CAF Champions League–winning players]]
[[Category:1982 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1984 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1992 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:Asante Kotoko S.C. players]]
[[Category:Servette FC players]]
[[Category:FC Aarau players]]
[[Category:FC Baden players]]
[[Category:Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland]]
[[Category:20th-century Ghanaian sportsmen]]


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