Bata (Equatorial Guinea), Jan 17 (IANS): The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) kicks off Saturday in the Equatorial Guinea town of Bata .

The hosts will hope to start the event on a winning note when they face Congo at the Estadio de Bata Stadium, reports Xinhua.

After the country's leader offered 40,000 tickets to the local supporters, a lot is expected from the home side.

The Spanish based trio of Ruben Belima Rodriguez, Enrique Boula Senoba and Pablo Comitre are expected to play a big role for the team. But the tricky Congo side will also look to its star player Delvin Chanel Ndinga, who features for Olympiakos in Greece.

The second Group A game will see Gabon face Burkina Faso. During the 2012 Afcon event, Gabon won all their Group games beating Morocco, Tunisia and Niger before reaching quarter-finals.

Star player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who plays for Borussia Dortmund, is expected to lead the Gabon side together with Cardiff City player Bruno Ecuele Manga.

Early in the week, Gabon's coach Jorge Costa said their target is to kick start the event on a winning note. He said although he respects the Burkina Faso team, they have trained hard and are ready to start well.

Morocco were meant to hosts this year's event, but withdrew after fears that the deadly Ebola virus could spread further if the event took place.

Equatorial Guinea, who co-hosted the event with Gabon in 2012, rescued the situation by accepting to host the event.

The team that will compete for the coveted trophy minus the defending champions Nigeria, who failed to qualify, include Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Congo, Zambia, Tunisia, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Ghana, Algeria, South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mali, Cameroon and Guinea.