Tunisia have emerged as one of the form sides on the continent as they prepare to face Cape Verde in their African Nations Cup Group B opener at the Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín in Ebebiyín, Equatorial Guinea on Sunday (kick-off 19h00 GMT).
The north Africans have not lost to a side from the continent in 15 months and breezed through a qualification pool that also included heavyweights Senegal and Egypt.
Cape Verde will present a stiff opener for them and perhaps a gauge of their potential to go on and lift the trophy, but all the signs are that Tunisia should be considered among the favourites.
The North African side have been rejuvenated under coach George Leekens, who was also briefly in charge of Algeria and qualified his native Belgium for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.
Leekans, who this week tipped Algeria for the title - no doubt a ploy to take some of the pressure of expectations off the shoulders of his players - has been forced into a late change to his squad, bringing in CA Bizertin midfielder Edem Rjaibi and Taraji striker Ahmed Akaichi.
They replace CS Sfaxien forward Fakhreddine Ben Youssef and Club Africain striker Saber Khlifa respectively.
Tunisia's only pre-tournament friendly was a home match against Algeria on January 11 that ended in a 1-1 draw.
Cape Verde are led by coach Rui Aguas, a former assistant with the Portuguese national team who has also held the coaching jobs at Estoril and Vitoria Setubal but did not work as a head coach for more than 10 years before being appointed to the Cape Verde job.
The 54-year-old's wife hails from the Cape Verde islands and he proved an instant success when the team became one of the first to book a place for the 2015 finals.
He says his side's aim is to reach the quarter-finals but admits that emerging from a pool that also includes Zambia and the DR Congo will be difficult.
"The other three teams are stronger and more experienced, but [to] try to do our best and shine, [and] pass the group stage must always be a goal," he told reporters.
"Zambia is very difficult, was champion a few years ago, Tunisia is perhaps the strongest physical and defensively, and all are evolved technically.
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"We went on an equal footing with the other teams. We are a competitor that has to be valued after the qualification campaign we had."
Aguas' star man is striker Heldon, who will lead Cape Verde's attack for a second successive tournament, having made a strong impression with his application at the 2013 finals when the islanders were surprise quarter-finalists.
Tunisia and Cape Verde met in the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Tunisia won 2-1 away in Praia, before being awarded the home tie 3-0 after the islanders fielded an ineligible player.
