At last, the wait is over.
At a stadium so entrenched in Chile's history it almost drips from the creaking rafters, a new chapter was written.
The Estadio Nacional, which once housed up to 20,000 citizens during the country's bloody dictatorship, erupted as Alexis Sanchez cheekily chipped home the winning penalty to end La Roja's 99-year wait for Copa America success.
Alexis Sanchez scored the winning penalty for Chile as they beat Argentina 4-1 in a shootout to win the Copa America in Santiago
The Chile players mob Arsenal star Sanchez as the squad celebrate winning their first ever major trophy
At a stadium so entrenched in Chile's history it almost drips from the creaking rafters, a new chapter was written.
The Estadio Nacional, which once housed up to 20,000 citizens during the country's bloody dictatorship, erupted as Alexis Sanchez cheekily chipped home the winning penalty to end La Roja's 99-year wait for Copa America success.
Alexis Sanchez scored the winning penalty for Chile as they beat Argentina 4-1 in a shootout to win the Copa America in Santiago
The Chile players mob Arsenal star Sanchez as the squad celebrate winning their first ever major trophy
At a stadium so entrenched in Chile's history it almost drips from the creaking rafters, a new chapter was written.
The Estadio Nacional, which once housed up to 20,000 citizens during the country's bloody dictatorship, erupted as Alexis Sanchez cheekily chipped home the winning penalty to end La Roja's 99-year wait for Copa America success.
Alexis Sanchez scored the winning penalty for Chile as they beat Argentina 4-1 in a shootout to win the Copa America in Santiago
The team hailed at the start of this tournament as the best Chile had ever produced duly delivered as Argentina lost a second major final in as many summers.
The Santiago smog had cleared sufficiently for the snow-kissed Andes to provide a stunning backdrop to the closing act of the 44th edition of the competition Chile were one of four nations to have made up the first in 1916 but had never tasted success despite reaching the final on four previous occasions while Argentina were looking to quench their own 22-year trophy drought.
The donation of 40,000 flags to the Chile fans by a prominent philanthropist created a wall of red, white and blue with several thousand of their Argentinian counterparts able to get their hands on tickets which had reportedly been on sale for up to £16,000 on the black market Chile boss Jose Sampaoli, tasked with masterminding victory over his homeland, dropped Jose Rojas after a poor performance against Peru in the semi-final.
And having locked himself away and agonised over how best to stop Lionel Messi, he opted to recall Jean Beausejour while Miikel Albornoz made way for Francisco Silva.
Angel di Maria hits the deck after appearing to injure his hamstring during the first half before being substituted
With Ezequiel Garay failing to recover from a stomach bug, Martin Demichelis retained his place at the heart of Argentina's defence as Tata Martino stuck with the side that ran riot against Paraguay in the last four. Six of the line-up also started in the triumphant 2008 Olympic final in Beijing while seven remained from last summer's defeat by Germany at the World Cup.
Chile had betrayed a sense of nervousness against Peru as they perhaps felt the weight of expectation for the first time following a hitherto near-flawless campaign.
But they made a bright start at the Estadio Nacional led by Jorge Valdivia, often more playboy than playmaker, but who had been instrumental in La Roja's run to the final The hosts certainly showed no signs of abandoning their attacking principles in a frenetic start, even if their final deliveries were somewhat lacking.
Eduardo Vargas, the semi-final hero, burst into the box but could only drag his shot wide of the far post before Arturo Vidal broke from deep to volley goalwards only to be denied by a sprawling Sergio Romero.
Chile manage to get the ball clear after goalkeeper Claudio Bravo makes a save in a crowded penalty area to deny Argentina
Manchester United midfielder Di Maria is sent tumbling to the turf under a strong challenge by Chile midfielder Charles Aranguiz
But after a hesitant opening, Argentina almost broke the deadlock when Sergio Aguero met a near-post free-kick only for Claudio Bravo to react instantly and parry the header to safety before. At the other end, Vargas latched on to an inch-perfect pass only to blaze his effort wastefully over the bar.
Martino was forced into an unplanned switch on the half-hour mark when Angel di Maria, who had been the victim of persistent and blatant hacking, pulled his hamstring and was replaced by Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Chile had kept Messi restrained in the opening exchanges but Gary Medel reminded the Barcelona maestro that he was a marked man with a mistimed kick in his midriff.
Both sides had opportunities to go into the break in front with Alexis Sanchez curling the ball straight at Romero before Lavezzi forced Bravo into a smart stop at the other end.
But neither side looked prepared to grab this final by the scruff of the neck until Sanchez came within inches of winning it with a well-hit volley.
The ever-animated Martino was incredulous when referee Wilmar Roldan failed to award a penalty after Silva pulled Marcos Rojo to the ground inside the area.
And with the last kick of normal time, Higuain missed a glorious chance when he could only turn Lavezzi's slightly overhit pass into the side netting after a rare solo run from Messi.
With legs tiring and tempers fraying, Marcelo Diaz curled an effort over the bar in extra-time before Sanchez took advantage of Javier Mascherano's slip to scamper clear but, as a nation held its collective breath, the Arsenal forward failed to hit the target.
A rousing rendition of the Chilean national anthem preceded the shoot-out with deafening whistles accompanying each Argentinian effort.
Higuain was the first to miss, blazing over to compound his miserable night before Ever Banega's weak effort was comfortably saved by Bravo.
Vidal immediately broke rank and sprinted half the length of the pitch to congratulate his captain before returning to watch Sanchez make history
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