Two-time Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) winner and Asante Kotoko legend, Opoku Afriyie has died. He was 65.
Afriyie, who played as a striker for the Ghana national team and was among few players to feature for the country’s two biggest clubs Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak, passed on Sunday, March 29 in Kumasi.
“Dad has not been well these past three months and was hospitalized at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) but the doctors advised we took him home due to the advent of COVID-19 so he was discharged around 1 pm on Sunday.
“But a couple of hours after our return home, he started to complain about some discomfort so we rushed him to Tech Hospital where he was pronounced dead upon our arrival,” his son George Opoku Afriyie confirmed.
Nicknamed ‘Bayie’, Opoku Afriyie scored twice as Ghana beat Uganda to win the Afcon trophy for keeps at the 1978 finals. He also scored both goals when the Black Stars secured a 2-1 win over Zambia in their opening game at the same tournament.
He was also in Ghana’s 4th and last Afcon winning team in 1982.
At Kotoko, Opoku Afriyie won the Ghana topflight league goal-king title twice – in 1979 and 1981.
He captained the side before a headline-hogging move to arch-rivals Hearts of Oak in the twilight of his career in 1984. He also won the league title with the Phobians who gave him the moniker ‘Nii Opoku Afriyie’ during his stint.
Afriyie returned to Kotoko as Team Manager in 2003 and few years on, he took up that role at the senior national team. He was the Team Manager and Welfare Officer when the Black Stars made their first-ever Fifa World Cup appearance at Germany 2006.
