Chile have been held to a goalless half-time draw in their Copa America curtain-raiser with Ecuador in Santiago this morning.

Only two minutes elapsed before the tournament hosts threatened to make a dream start as Alexis Sanchez poked narrowly past the post.

The Arsenal hotshot was proving lively early on and two minutes later he was thwarted again in his bid to open the scoring as he failed to lift a shot over Alexander Dominguez.

The visitors slowly but surely began developing a foothold in the clash and Claudio Bravo had to be alert to keep out Fidel Martinez's curling effort.

Chile again threatened seven minutes before the break when Sanchez and Mauricio Isla exchanged a one-two, before the latter saw his fierce drive whistle just past the post.

Written by
Shane Callaghan