Costa liking turnaround by Vipers

KAMPALA.

Three consecutive Uganda Premier League (UPL) wins over Soana, KCCA and URA is a clear testimony of how Portuguese tactician Jorge Da Costa is gradually reawakening Vipers’ hitherto dwindling fortunes.

Saturday’s 1-0 win over URA at St Mary’s Stadium might not have been as commanding as the triumph over leaders KCCA earlier on Tuesday but it carried a message of a club balancing transformation and improving its performance.

“Today I understood why URA is one of the teams competing for the championship. They have a good, mature team and it is not easy to beat them. My team is a very young team and we are trying to know how to play hard games. My boys are learning,” Costa revealed after Tony Odur’s 59th clinical finish – his fourth in three matches - cemented their third slot.

“I’m very satisfied with the boys but my only concern now is giving them focus for the next game (against relegations threatened Bright Stars tomorrow at Mwererwe).

“All the players are working hard to win. That can be seen in the wins over KCCA and URA where they were able to attack and defend at the same time.” Diminishing self esteem has also been a key factor in Vipers’ recent free-fall but the 36-year-old animated coach says he is making progress in waking up key players like goal hero Odur.

“What was missing in Tony (Odur) was confidence. He was having a bad time. We are building a family where every player will know when to play and not.”