Mauritania manager Amir Abdou hopes his side can be “spoilsports” at the Africa Cup of Nations ahead of its opener against Burkina Faso in Bouake.

Ahead of the match, Abdou recognised his side's opponent, which has reached the semi-finals in two of the last three editions, and 2019 champion Algeria is favourite to progress from Group D.

While Mauritania has yet to record a win in its past two appearances in the competition, Abdou senses his side and Angola have nothing to lose as they seek to upset the odds.

“As an outsider, the favourite is Algeria, there’s no contest,” Abdou said. “Burkina Faso have always been there in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.

“These are teams that are always present at the competition. We’ll be the outsiders along with Angola, so we’ll be trying to be the spoilsports.

“We want to have an interesting tournament, and avoid the troubles Mauritania had in the last two editions. That’s our aim: to go and take on the big boys and why not reach the last 16?”

Despite Burkina Faso’s excellent recent record in reaching the latter stages of this competition, the 2013 finalist has never won its opening match with five draws and seven defeats.

His team might be favourite to beat Mauritania but Burkina Faso boss Hubert Velud is taking nothing for granted.

“We will have to be careful, the slightest mistake will be fatal,” he said. “We will make sure to apply ourselves as much as possible to achieve a result.”