RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) - Argentina’s Lionel Messi has scored one of his trademark free kicks in the first half but Eduardo Vargas equalised for Chile in the second to leave honours even at 1-1 in their Copa America opener in Rio de Janeiro.
When the two sides met in a World Cup qualifier earlier this month, Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo acrobatically saved one Messi free kick and another hit the woodwork but this time the Barcelona player went one better, curling a superb set piece into the corner of the net from 25 meters out after 33 minutes.
Although they overcame Argentina on penalties in the Copa America finals of 2015 and 2016, Chile had never beaten their neighbors over 90 minutes in this tournament and their task got even harder after Messi opened the scoring.
Missing Alexis Sanchez through injury, the Chileans nevertheless battled back to equalise 13 minutes into the second half in rather fortunate circumstances after a VAR consultation led to them being awarded a penalty kick.
Arturo Vidal’s powerful shot was superbly tipped on to the bar by Emiliano Martinez but Vargas followed up to head home the rebound.