Lionel Messi's superb free-kick was not enough to hand Argentina victory over Chile in their Copa America on Monday night.
Result: Argentina 1-1 Chile
Date: 14 June 2021
Venue: Estádio Nilton Santos
Messi was joined in the attack by Lautaro Martinez and Nicolas Gonzalez while Chile were without Alexis Sanchez through injury.
Argentina looked lively in the early stages as Gonzalez was in the thick of things, although he squandered two golden chances in the opening 20 minutes.
The opening goal did arrive on 33 minutes through talisman Messi, who curled home a sublime free-kick that left Claudio Bravo with no chance.
The Argentines could have added a second goal seven minutes before the break when Martinez was presented with an opening, but the Inter Milan man fired wide from close range.
However, Lionel Scaloni's were not able to hold onto the lead after Chile equalised on 57 minutes when Eduardo Vargas headed into an empty net after Martinez had saved Arturo Vidal's penalty.
Scaloni responded with a double change soon after as Di Maria and Exequiel Palacios replaced Lo Celso and Leandro Paredes for the final 20 minutes.
Messi looked to take matters into his own hands as he skipped past one challenge and delivered a teasing cross into Gonzalez in the box, but the striker headed over the target on 80 minutes.
In the end, neither side could find a winning goal and were forced to settle for a point a piece in their opening encounter.
