SANTIAGO: Arturo Vidal buried his Champions League heartache to set up a 2-0 opening victory for Chile over Ecuador as the Copa America kicked off here on Thursday.

Vidal bounced back from the disappointment of defeat to Barcelona in last week’s Champions League final to score a 67th-minute penalty in a man-of-the-match performance. Eduardo Vargas made it 2-0 late on to give the Chileans a winning start in Group A as they chase a first Copa America crown in 99 years of trying.

The win puts Chile firmly on course to qualify for the quarter-finals. Group A also contains Mexico and Bolivia. Chile had been unable to find a breakthrough until Vidal burst forward midway through the second half to be tugged over by Ecuador’s Miller Bolanos.

Argentine referee Nestor Pitana pointed to the spot immediately and Vidal stepped up to blast the spot kick high and wide past Ecuador´s giant goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez. The hosts made sure of victory six minutes from time when Arsenal star

Alexis Sanchez released Vargas who finished coolly for 2-0.

The only blackspot for Chile was a red a card for Matias Fernandez in the closing minutes for two cautions. Chile’s dreams of lifting the title on home soil will face stiff opposition from favourites Argentina and five-time world champions Brazil.

Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, and Brazil, now skippered by Neymar, have results on their side heading into the tournament.

Brazil completed their preparations on Wednesday in Porto Alegre, beating Honduras 1-0 to rack up their 10th consecutive friendly victory since last year’s World Cup, when they were humiliated 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals. The Barcelona teammates are carrying a mountain of expectation on their shoulders. Messi is determined to finally taste glory at a major international tournament while Neymar is aiming to erase the memory of Brazil’s World Cup debacle.

Messi and Argentina fell agonisingly short at the World Cup, suffering a 1-0 extra-time defeat to Germany in the final to extend a title drought which stretches back to the 1993 Copa America. Argentina open their campaign against Paraguay on Saturday, and should progress from Group B which also includes Uruguay and Jamaica, one of two teams from the CONCACAF region invited to bolster the tournament. Brazil will kick off Group C against Peru on Sunday.