Norwich City midfielder Marcelino Nunez started for Chile but La Roja were held to a frustrating 0-0 Copa America opening night draw against Peru.

The playmaker featured for 84 minutes before making way in Friday night’s Group A fixture in Texas.

Nunez tested Peru keeper Pedro Gallese just past the hour mark with a left-footed strike from outside the box but 10-time champions Chile were unable to convert their dominance in possession into goals.

The 24-year-old has found himself subject to early transfer window interest from Turkish Europa League qualifiers Trabzonspor. 

His national coach Ricardo Gareca felt La Roja were the better side.

"We tried to play, but Peru were very strong in their defence and they were able to break up our game," said Gareca. "The referee allowed a lot for that type of play. So of course, there were a lot of breaks, and it was tough for us to create and to come up with these opportunities.

"We were not able to create many plays and execute them. We were under a lot of pressure and sometimes we were not accurate in our passes.

"I'm not concerned. I think this will be useful for us to analyse our game to improve our game.

"We of course hoped to win the match. But I think it's very important that we're able to take a point and we still have two matches ahead of us."

Chile's next group game is a daunting match up against world champions Argentina in New Jersey on Tuesday who beat Canada 2-0 in the other opening fixture earlier on Friday.

Josh Sargent's USA begin their campaign on Sunday night against Bolivia. Jose Cordoba's Panama are in the same group and face Uruguay in the early hours of Monday morning (UK time).