The Fiercely-contested 1983 League Encounter Between Kotoko & Hearts
Throwback: Hesse Odamtten, The Defender Who Erased Opoku Nti’s Show In Kumasi
The 1983 Football league season in Ghana was a fiercely contested one. Kumasi Asante Kotoko was the club that proved monarch of all that it surveyed. However, the traditional powerhouses of Accra Hearts of Oak, Accra Great Olympics, and Sekondi Hasaacas were also at their best and gave Kotoko a run for their money. There were the dark horses called Sekondi Eleven Wise which had gone on a training tour in Brazil and returned with sweet passing and dribbling soccer.
In 1983, Asante Kotoko proved very strong on both domestic and international fronts and went ahead to win the double, being the Division One league in Ghana and the African Clubs Championship Cup. Samuel Opoku Nti was the star player in Kotoko’s star-studded team that included regulars like Kwadwo Addae Kyenkyehene, Papa Arko, Francis Agyemang, Ebo Mends, Seth Ampadu, Ernest Appau, Kwasi Appiah, Ahmed Rockson, John Bannerman, Yahya Kassum, Karimu Zito, Emmanuel ”Joe Tex” Quaye, Joseph Carr, Akye Erzuah and Isaac Afranie.
Asante Kotoko was the team to beat in that season, one of the highest points of the good run was the 1-0 defeat inflicted on arch-rivals Hearts of Oak in Accra. Despite the first-round setback, Hearts of Oak went to Kumasi in the return encounter to cause damage, and the manner in which it administered the bitter pill, made interesting reminisce.
Hearts took the Kumasi match by storm and raced to a 3-0 lead by the end of the first half. Well, matches between the two giants defy form guide but the manner Hearts coasted to the commanding lead in that match sent tongues wagging against the backdrop of a Kotoko that had proven unassailable in Africa. Opoku Nti held the Midas touch in the whirlwind and invoked his magic. Within a space of twelve minutes, he scored a hat-trick to erase the Hearts lead. Scores at 3-3 in the second half, both teams pressed hard for the winner.
The name became famous on that day for plucking the winner. Stocky defender Hesse Odamtten soared very high to connect a corner kick to restore Hearts in the lead. Sitting on a slim margin, and parading tough defenders like Ofei Ansah and Collins Paha, Hearts defended gallantly to win the match and threw Kumasi into disarray.
Hesse Odamtten and Opoku Nti were not newcomers to the big stage. Both were members of the Black Stars that last won the African Cup of Nations in 1982, incidentally the fourth by Ghana. Hesse Odamtten was a hard-tackling cum rugged defender whilst Opoku Nti was capable of scoring goals with the side of his foot or back heel.
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