Copa América: Chile and Peru open with a rough 0-0

Chile and Peru tied 0-0 this Friday in the debut of both in Group A of the Copa América in the United States-2024, in a thick match in which the tireless Claudio Bravo had a decisive performance in goal.

At 41 years old, a survivor of the "Golden Generation" that gave Chile the Copa América titles in 2015 and 2016, Bravo denied goals to Miguel Araujo in the 43rd minute and Gianluca Lapadula in the 57th and 89th to sustain his team standing at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The best opportunity for La Roja was Alexis Sánchez's cross from Víctor Dávila in the 16th minute, but he kicked over the crossbar.

World champion Argentina opened the group on Thursday with a 2-0 victory against Canada.

Next Tuesday, in the continuation of this key in which Lionel Messi and company emerge as large favorites, Peru will face Canada, and Chile will face Argentina.

Skin-deep tension

It was a tight match, with the tension that usually surrounds each Pacific Classic. In a clash that was very intense, neither of them found ways to prevail over their opponent.

There were eyes on the coaching duel between the Argentine Ricardo Gareca, with Chile, and the Uruguayan Jorge Fossati, in charge of Peru. Gareca's past as helmsman of the Peruvian team, which he led to the 2018 World Cup in Russia after 36 years of absence, was the focus.

However, the technical battle ended without a winner.

Chile's best moments came midway through the first half. Sánchez, fifteen minutes into the game, wasted a great pass from Dávila with the goal at his mercy. It was a golden chance, and the forward put his hands on his face, lamenting his lack of precision.

Dávila and Sánchez continued to push in the following actions, but the Australs diluted themselves as the stopwatch ticked.

And without being dominant, Peru later had its chances.

He always found a confident Bravo between the three sticks and missed greater clarity when defining.

The goalkeeper blocked a header from Araujo on the brink of half-time, and in the second half, he controlled a couple of shots from Lapadula. However, the Bicolor attacker did not connect the ball well on both occasions, making the goalkeeper's job easier.

Seventh time

Bravo is playing his seventh Copa América.

The Betis goalkeeper thus became the Chilean player with the highest number of editions played, leaving behind the legendary Sergio Livingstone.

The Ecuadorian Alex Aguinaga and the Uruguayan Ángel Romano share the absolute record, with eight participations per person in the tournament.