Revita; Cosafa performance to determine Express fate
World War three. John Revita Training with the Cosafa Team at Lugogo. Photo by John Batanudde
What you need to know:
- Pundits and fans, particularly Red Eagles diehards that have christened him ‘Virgil Van Dijk’, and are still awed by how Revita goes about playing the beautiful game as if it were a chess match — eyeing up his opponents and plotting their moves well before they happened.
KAMPALA. If ours was a vivacious and gratifying league that exalts the best performers, Express defensive kingpin John Revita would have caused a mini ‘World War three’ amongst potential suitors in the pending transfer period.
Yet as the composed defender is tussling to nail down a first team spot in Abdallah Mubiru’s Cosafa bound team, it has been revealed his contract expired at Express, a club he skippered to Uganda Cup semis recently.
“I will not say I was surprised by my call up to this Cosafa team because I have worked for it. I have strong belief that I would even have thrived in the Afcon team if given the chance,” Revita told Daily Monitoryesterday.
He added; “I have played 27 matches for Express (23 in Uganda Premier League and four in Uganda Cup) which included captaining the team in the later stages but my contract is now over. There are many local lucrative offers but I believe with good performances in the Cosafa tournament, I will get better deals on the continent.”
The mere fact that Revita got a national team summon in his maiden season in the top flight league speaks volumes for a man whose positioning and ability to read the game was second to none in the just concluded local season.
Pundits and fans, particularly Red Eagles diehards that have christened him ‘Virgil Van Dijk’, and are still awed by how Revita goes about playing the beautiful game as if it were a chess match — eyeing up his opponents and plotting their moves well before they happened.
Lest we forget, the former Bukavu (DR Congo) versatile player is equally excellent in the midfield and in attack and can execute jaw dropping goals as the Uganda Cup free kick against Bright Stars can attest.
“The coach (Mubiru) has tried me with different partners like Paul Mbowa and Hassan Musana in the two friendly matches (against Afcon bound Cranes and Western Select side) and he seemed pleased. I believe Uganda will progress to later stages in the tourney,” he revealed.
His ability to be in the right place, at the right time also makes him a must have jewelry for every coach and his elegance, leadership and charisma will surely be missed at an Express side undergoing renaissance.
Cosafa Cup 2019
May 25th – 8th June
Host country: South Africa (Durban)
Cosafa groups
A: Angola, eSwatini, Comoros, Mauritius
B: Mozambique, Namibia,
Malawi, and Seychelles
Quarterfinals
Lesotho vs Uganda
Zimbabwe vs Group A Winner
South Africa vs Botswana
Zambia vs Winner B
*Top ranked countries start from quarterfinals*
