Chile came out victorious in a thriller of a match which saw Ecuador take the lead twice before finally bowing in defeat in their opening match of Copa America on Wednesday.

The game opened to a frenzy start with Ecuador taking the lead in the 16th minute thanks to a well worked out free kick play which resulted in Antonio Valencia scoring with an exquisite chip over the Chilean keeper.

But Chile struck back 5 minutes later through Humberto Suazo, who hit an unstoppable drive past the Ecuador keeper Mora. However the deadlock was short lived as two minutes later, Ecuador once again took the lead through Christian Benitez who headed home a floating ball into the net.

Ecuador should have put the match beyond Chile's reach, with Valencia hitting the woodwork. Chile came close to leveling before the half but were once again denied by a superb save from Mora.

Opening period of the second half saw Ecuador dominating the match, but were unable to convert any of the number of chances that fell their way. They were made to pay for the missed chances in the 79th minute when Chileans equalized once again through Suazo, who controlled the ball wonderfully by his chest before firing the ball into the net.

Chile took the lead for the first time in the match in 85th minute when substitute Villanueva hit a text book free kick attempt that curled into the net. Chile claimed a priceless victory in the toughest group of the competition and will now face Brazil in their next match while Ecuador will be hoping for a better result against Mexico on July 1.