The Rades stadium on the outskirts of Tunis will host the opening match

Tunisia's opening Group A against Rwanda might look easy for the hosts but everyone in Tunis will be recalling what happened when the competition was last hosted there.

The Carthage Eagles were humbled 2-0 by Mali in the opening game of the 1994 Nations Cup.

It was a defeat from which the Tunisians never recovered and they eventually crashed out of the tournament with their tails firmly between their legs!

GROUP A Tunisia Rwanda Guinea DR Congo

Tunisia's assistant coach Nabil Maaloul is certainly aware of the banana skin threat Rwanda will pose at the Rades stadium on 24 January.

"The disadvantage with playing small teams is that there is a tendency to underestimate them," he told BBC Sport website after the draw in Tunis.

He went on: "It's usually easier to find out about bigger teams than it is with smaller sides.

"Teams like Cameroon and Senegal have players in Europe and we know how they play.

"But we don't have as much information on players from Rwanda, DR Congo or Guinea."

"I would have loved to face one of the big names of African football but maybe it's our luck to avoid them."

For the Tunisian coach Roger Lemerre it will be his second opening game of a major tournament after France lost to Senegal in the curtain-raiser of the 2002 World Cup.

Tunisia were also drawn against the DR Congo, then known as Zaire, when they last hosted the Nations Cup finals.

But following that humiliating defeat to Mali they could only manage a 1-1 draw with the Congolese.

Many neutrals felt the 1994 competition suffered as local interest evaporated with the home side's shock exit.

It's usually easier to find out about bigger teams Nabil Maaloul Tunisia's assistant coach

In 1998 Tunisia and the DR Congo enjoyed the pleasure of group qualification together in Burkina Faso.

The North Africans topped the group in Ouagadougou and beat the their rivals from Kinshasa 2-1 in the game between them.

And Burkina Faso 98 was the last time Guinea took part in the Nations Cup finals.

On that occasion Guinea were knocked out after their final game against the hosts but responded by accusing the referee of capitulating to pressure from a partisan home crowd.

Facing Rwanda will be difficult for Guineans who struggled to beat Burundi, another team from the Great Lakes region, to qualify for the 1994 Nations Cup.

And place yourself in the shoes of the Rwandans. Could there be a tougher debut in the Cup of Nations?

Ten years ago the competition was on the back pages of newspapers while the events that led to the genocide occupied the front pages.

Now the Rwandans will want to be front and back page news for the right reasons - by achieving what would be arguably the biggest opening day upset in the competition's history.

The DR Congo will fancy their chances from Group A despite the fact they will ne missing their most potent weapon, Shabani Nonda.

Their local derby against Rwanda will be interesting to watch!

Schedule of Group A matches:

Saturday, 24 January
Tunisia vs Rwanda (Rades)

Sunday, 25 January
DR Congo vs Guinea (El Menzah)

Wednesday, 28 January
Tunisia vs DR Congo (Rades)
Rwanda vs Guinea (Bizerte)

Sunday, 1 February
Tunisia vs Guinea (Rades)
Rwanda vs DR Congo (Bizerte)