By Mark Gleeson BBC Sport in Maputo

Mozambique hope to be smiling after Saturday's game

Viktor Bondarenko begins his second spell in charge of Mozambique on Saturday hoping to produce the kind of results that marked his first stint as coach.

The former Soviet international, appointed earlier this month, leads his Mozambican side into battle against Lesotho in a Cosafa Castle Cup first round match in Maputo.

Mozambican football has struggled in the years since Bondarenko qualified the side for the 1996 African Nations Cup finals.

Only two years ago they could not get past the preliminary round of the qualifiers for the same competition, beaten on penalties by Saturday's opponents.

A measure of Bondarenko's determination for a winning start has been the inclusion of eight foreign-based players in the squad for Saturday's game, including three from Portugal.

On the other hand, scarce resources have never hindered Lesotho's determination to play regular international matches and Saturday's will be their fourth game of the year.

They beat Botswana away earlier this month, drew 2-2 with the Democratic Republic of Congo at home in Maseru last Sunday and were beaten 1-0 by Swaziland on Wednesday night en route to Mozambique.

Mafa Ramakau has returned to coach the Basotho side, known as 'Likouena' (the Crocodiles), just under a year after he departed as national coach in the wake of their exit from the first round of the annual southern African championship in 2001.

The winner of Saturday's match goes through to the quarter-finals of the competition.

Holders South Africa, Malawi, Swaziland and Zambia all received byes into the last eight and have been joined in recent weeks by Madagascar and Botswana, who were winners of their first round encounters.