Kwasi Owusu’ death has deepened the woes of Ghanaian football-loving fans who have not recovered from the death of Opoku Afriyie, the one who inspired Ghana to win the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations final against Uganda.
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Tribute to Kwasi Owusu: The legacy of Ghana’s greatest header of the ball will forever live on
Ghanaian football-loving fans woke up on Monday 30th March 2020 to hear the demise of the legendary Ghana striker Kwasi Owusu.
Kwasi Owusu
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Opoku Afriyie passed away on Sunday afternoon and in less than 24 hours Kwasi Owusu, popularly called “Power House” failed to wake up from he went to bed.
It has left the country in great tears after witnessing the death of two prominent footballers in back to back days.
Just as Pulse Ghana's Thomas Freeman Yeboah, who is a Sports Historian and Statistician paid a glowing tribute by sharing with our readers some of the great memories Opoku Afriyie left with the football fraternity, the same will be done for Kwasi Owusu.
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Kwasi Owusu was born on 7th November 1945 at Nkoronza in the Bono Region where he hails from.
‘Power House’ played his lower division football at Techiman before he was spotted and given an opportunity to play his club football with Bofoakwa United in the late 1960’s
Kwasi Owusu played his entire club football for Bofoakwa Tano and featured prominently for the Black Stars for a decade and even captained the senior national football team of Ghana from 1975 to 1977.
He got his name ‘Power House’ at the Black Stars because of his ability to bully defenders with his strength and physically intimidating nature both in the air and when surging forward.
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Owusu hit the ground running at Boafoakwa and made his mark which influenced national team handlers to give him the chance to join the Black Stars.
Kwasi Owusu represented Ghana in the 70 Africa Cup of Nations held in Sudan. Owusu was in the thick of event in 1970, scoring three goals as Ghana reached their fourth consecutive final in the continental showpiece.
Kwasi Owusu
Pulse Ghana
However, the West Africans lost 1-0 against Sudan and the Black Stars were given an ultimatum to leave the country by the Sudanese Government because they protested against the goal.
One of the high points of Kwasi Owusu’s career was when he represented Ghana in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games held in Munich, Germany.
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In the colours of the national jersey, the bulky striker bagged 40 goals and he is among the top three greatest strikers for the Black Stars in international games after Asamoah Gyan and Edward Acquah.
One of the games he displayed his potency in front of goal was a hat-trick he registered against Nigeria in 1973 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier at Lagos.
Hell broke loose when Owusu put Nigeria on the sword and the game ended abruptly. Nigeria fans burnt Ghana’s bus for the trip. The Results was nullified and Ghana were awarded two points two goals, which was the standard practice back then instead of three points three goals.
'Power House' as he was affectionately called would be remembered for scoring five goals against Niger, before registering four goals in the reverse fixture as Ghana walloped the Nigeriens 15-1 on aggregate in the 1970 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. His five goals in a single game for the Black Stars is only surpassed by Kofi Pare who recorded six goals against Kenya as Ghana walloped the East Africans 13-2 in 1965.
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At club level, he nurtured another striker in the person of Dan Kwasi Owusu when the latter joined Bofoakwa.
Dan Owusu in an interview with Pulse Ghana has paid a glowing tribute to his senior teammate whom he followed his footsteps as a footballer.
“I was shocked when I heard Kwasi Owusu has passed away, because I called his line to ask if he has heard of the death of Opoku Afriyie, only to be told that Kwasi also failed to wake up after he went to bed the previous night," he told Pulse Ghana.
“He has been taking his medicine, like what most people go through when ageing, but he looks healthy.
“I joined Bofoakwa as a young boy. I didn’t know anything at that time, so it was Kwasi Owusu who helped me out with his advice.
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“A lot of people thought I was his younger brother and even until today it hasn’t changed because of our name. Even I am also called Dan Kwasi Owusu, but when I joined Bofoakwa I dropped the Kwasi in order to make it easy to differentiate between us.
“Kwasi Owusu was a gentle person and his patience was beyond measure. I quite remember a game against Nigeria which he scored twice. The Nigeria goalkeeper Okala slapped him, yet he just ignored Okala and the GFA as a result honoured him for that.
“He is the greatest Ghanaian footballer in the air. Maxwell Konadu was another player who was good in the air during his playing days but he didn’t go far like Kwasi Owusu.
Dan Owusu who was a disciple of Kwasi Owusu would emerge as perhaps the finest striker in the history of the Ghanaian topflight league. He became the first player to win the league top scorer on three consecutive occasions, scoring 24 goals in 1974, 26 goals in 1975 and 28 goals in 1976.
Dan Owusu and Kwesi Owusu formed the deadliest attacking duo in Ghana’s club football history and between them, they gave defenders a hell of a time. In the season that Dan Owusu scored 28 goals, Kwasi Owusu also bagged 24 goals, so between them, they registered 52 league goals for Bofoakwa.
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The man who passed away at the age of 75 registered over 100 goals for Bofoakwa and recorded 40 goals for Ghana excluding the one against Nigeria which was nullified (It would have made it 43 goals).
Kwasi Owusu aside being among the top three goal scorers for the Black Stars is second to Asamoah Gyan on the list of the highest scorers for the Black Stars in competitive international football.
Competitive games for Ghana include World Cup, Nations Cup, Olympic Games, All Africa Games and qualifiers involving these competitions.
He registered an incredible 28 goals for Ghana in competitive games. Below are all the goals he scored in the shirt of the Black Stars.
International goals
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Date Match Number of goals scored Competition
17 August 1969 Ghana 6-0 Niger 5 1970 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game
21 September 1969 Niger 1-9 Ghana 4 1970 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game
7 February 1970 Congo-Kinshasa 0-2 Ghana 2 1970 Africa Cup of Nations First Round
11 February 1970 Ghana 1-1 Guinea 1 1970 Africa Cup of Nations First Round
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15 April 1970 Ghana 3-0 Ivory Coast 1 International Friendly
19 April 1970 Ghana 1-1 Ivory Coast 1 International Friendly
7 February 1971 Ghana 2-1 Sierra Leone 1 International Friendly
2 May 1971 Ivory Coast 2-6 Ghana 2 International Friendly
30 April 1972 Cameroon 0-3 Ghana 1 1972 Summer Olympics
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18 June 1972 Dahomey 0-5 Ghana 2 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifying game
2 July 1972 Ghana 5-1 Dahomey 1 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifying game
8 January 1973 Nigeria 4-2 Ghana 1 1973 All-Africa Games First Round
10 January 1973 Tanzania 0-1 Ghana 1 1973 All-Africa Games First Round
14 January 1973 Guinea 2-1 Ghana 1 1973 All-Africa Games Semi-final
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23 March 1975 Upper Volta (Burkina) 1-3 Ghana 2 Friendly.
17 August 1974 Nigeria 0-1 Ghana 1 Nigeria/Ghana Festival
11 September 1974 Ivory Coast 1-1 Ghana 1 Friendly
14 December 1975 Ghana 6-2 Guinea 3 1976 Summer Olympics qualifying game
28 March 1976 Ghana 4-0 Togo 1
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6 April 1976 Ghana 6-0 Liberia 2 1976 Summer Olympics qualifying game
13 April 1976 Mali 3-1 Ghana 1 1976 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game
20 April 1976 Liberia 1-4 Ghana 2 1976 Summer Olympics qualifying game
27 April 1976 Ghana 4-0 Mali 1 1978 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game
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24 August 1976 Ghana 1-2 Nigeria 1 Nigeria/Ghana Festival
31 August 1976 Ghana 3-0 Nigeria 1 (pen.) Nigeria/Ghana Festival
Kwasi Owusu, although you have left us, your performance on the field of play will forever leave an indelible ink in our memories. We thank you for the great goals you gave us with both your powerful headers and shots.
"Damirifa Due, Due ne Amanehunu"
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