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Chile and Ecuador to kick off Copa America 2015

Xinhua, June 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

A duel between Chile and Ecuador's national teams will open the Copa Americe 2015 football tournament in Chile this evening at 20:30 local time (23:30 GMT) in Santiago's National Stadium.

The match is the first in Group A which also includes Mexico and Bolivia.

The host team see this match as the start of a road which they hope will lead them to lifting the trophy for the first time ever in the world's oldest international continental football competition.

Preliminary statistics favour the home nation in the match. The 47 times that these two teams have previously met, Chile have won 26 times, drawn 12 times and have only lost nine matches to Ecuador according to history.

The last time they faced each other, Chile won 2-1 at the Monumental Stadium in Chile on their way to Brazil 2014.

The host country seems to be one of the countries in the running to win the tournament with the likes of midfielder Arturo Vidal included in what some experts have said to be Chile's best generation of footballers in history.

Manager Jorge Sampaoli's line up for the opening match will probably include Claudio Bravo in goals; Mauricio Isla, Gary Medel, Gonzalo Jara, Eugenio Mena in defence; Charles Aranguiz, Marcelo Diaz and Arturo Vidal in midfield; and Alexis Sanchez, Jorge Valdivia and Jean Beausejour upfront.

The Ecuador team will rest and prepare themselves to win the match according to a spokesperson for the team.

"We have never trained to defend ourselves or to play at the back. We train to defend far from our goalpost and we train to attack. Sometimes we succeed other times we don't," said Ecuador coach Gustavo Quinteros in the run up to the match.

Quinteros' team will include Alexander Dominguez in goals; Juan Carlos Paredes, Gabriel Achillier, Frickson Erazo and Walter Ayovi in defence; Fidel Martinez, Christian Noboa, Osbaldo Lastraand Jefferson Montero in midfield; and Miller Bolanos and Enner Valencia upfront.

Argentinian Nestor Pitana will referee the match. Endi