Africa's top ranked side Algeria are out to prove that their impressive FIFA World Cup Brazil2014 campaign and remarkable run through the AFCON qualifiers were no mean achievements as they seek to translate their pre-tournament favorite tag into a second continental title.

The Desert Foxes reached the second round of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and were first to qualify together with Cape Verde's Blue Sharks as they cruised through their final qualifying pool which had Mali, Malawi and Ethiopia.

With the weight of an expectant nation on their shoulders, the pressure will be on the Desert Foxes to find their way in a group branded the "Group of Death".

They open the campaign against a side that is in fine form and whose trainer says they are in Equatorial Guinea to compete proudly and raise the bar at AFCON 2015.

Star playmaker Yacine Brahimi is confident the squad has the attributes to do well and progress from the group.

"We are well prepared for the African Cup. We organized good training in the Technical Center of the Algerian Football Federation in Algiers. The preparation was short, but that was beneficial for players to start concentrating on the competition and be in the best condition here."

"During the preparation, we played a friendly match against Tunisia and that game allowed us to fine-tune our game and correct errors. While in Equatorial Guinea, we just have to manage the group and especially the physical fitness so that we remain at the top," the FC Porto star said.

On the opening match against South Africa's Bafana Bafana, Brahimi said: "We have studied very well the South African game and we will play our game and impose our rhythm. Our goal in this tournament is to win all our matches, starting with Africa South," he said.