Copa America round-up: Brazil and Costa Rica held in opening games

Brazil's new generation of stars were held to a goalless draw by Ecuador in their opening 2016 Copa America clash in Pasadena, California, on Saturday.

The eight-time winners rested Barcelona forward Neymar, who was watching from the Rose Bowl stands, for the centenary edition of the tournament and they were short of ideas in his absence.

David Luiz and Marcelo joined Neymar on the sidelines as they all prepare for the Olympic Games, which start later this summer in Rio.

Douglas Costa and Kaka were also missing from Dunga's 23-man squad through injury and Ecuador gave the Brazil boss plenty to ponder after a frustrating showing.

Brazil began the Group B clash brightly but seemed to be missing their star names, especially in the final third.

Chelsea midfielder Willian and Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho were providing the main creative threat but they failed to provide a killer touch.

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Coutinho let fly from 25 yards but sliced his effort wide on 17 minutes as Ecuador largely restricted Brazil to long-range shots.

Ecuador did offer their own threat on the break which was evident when Jefferson Montero led a two-on-one charge before being taken down by Elias, who received a booking on 35 minutes.

Enner Valencia fired in a vicious strike from the resulting free-kick but it was well gathered by Brazil 'keeper Alisson.

Antonio Valencia saw a drilled effort from distance deflected wide early in the second half before Ecuador thought they had taken the lead on 66 minutes.

Colombia beat USA in Copa opener

Cristian Zapata and James Rodriguez on target in Santa Clara

Miller Bolanos appeared to keep the ball in play on the byline, with his fierce centre fumbled into the net by Alisson, but the officials ruled it had gone out.

Lucas Moura, a replacement for the ineffective Willian, breathed some life into a lacklustre Brazil performance and tried his luck from long range but blazed over the bar on 75 minutes.

A first-time left-footed volley from Ecuador midfielder Christian Noboa was also too high as both sides began to press for a late winner.

The closest either came to stealing all three points came when Paris Saint-Germain winger Moura glanced a header into the side-netting with five minutes remaining but Brazil had to settle for a draw.

Elsewhere in Group B, Paolo Guerrero's second-half header got Peru off to a winning start as they beat Haiti 1-0 in Seattle.

The former Bayern Munich striker nodded in Edison Flores' cross on the hour mark and, in doing so, moved above Teofilo Cubillas as the all-time leading scorer for the national team with 27.

Paraguay played out a goalless draw in a feisty Group A clash against Costa Rica in Orlando, Florida.

A game of few chances was book-ended by a yellow card after just 15 seconds for Costa Rica's Yeltsin Tejeda and a red card for his team-mate Kendall Waston in added time.

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