Chile won the Copa America for the first time late Saturday when a cheeky penalty from Alexis Sanchez clinched a shootout victory over Argentina and glory for the host nation’s golden generation in front of their own fans.

The two sides were deadlocked 0-0 after 90 minutes and when another half an hour of extra-time failed to produce a goal, the contest was destined to be decided by penalties.

Lionel Messi stepped up to score Argentina’s first spot-kick but, as the first three Chileans converted unerringly, Gonzalo Higuain and Ever Banega missed.

That left the stage set for forward Sanchez, who made up for a quiet game by dinking the ball into Sergio Romero’s net to send the capacity crowd at Santiago’s National Stadium into wild raptures.

“Our whole idea was to win something, we knew that this was the moment,” goalkeeper Claudio Bravo told reporters.

“This is a privileged generation and now it is time to enjoy it. We are not used to winning anything so this is an exception.”

Chile had beaten Argentina just once in 38 competitive matches before the final and were outsiders to take the trophy for the first time in the 99-year history of the tournament.

Few sides were able to handle their fast-paced football, however, and they won four of their five games on their way to the deciding match, scoring 13 goals and delighting their home fans.

“This is something so nice for all the Chilean people,” midfielder Arturo Vidal told reporters after the whistle.

“We Chileans needed a triumph, something like this Cup, today we took an incredible step, we’re America’s best.”

The final itself was a poor game with neither side able to create many chances.

With Messi uninspired and Sanchez faltering, the teams attempted just 19 shots between them – less than all but one of the Copa America finals contested since 1993.

Higuain came closest to breaking the stalemate for Argentina in the last minute of regulation time.

Messi sent Ezequiel Lavezzi through on the left and he crossed to Higuain at the far post but the striker could only put the ball in the side netting.

Sanchez had one great chance to steal the game for Chile in extra-time but blazed over with just the goalkeeper to beat.

Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli said his team have taken a great step forward by winning the Copa for the first time but could still struggle to qualify for the next World Cup.

“When you win something as important as this people start to dream of the future, but the World Cup qualifiers have really nothing to do with this success,” Sampaoli.

“It’s going to be very hard, very competitive, and there are teams who grew a lot at this Copa and they’re going to be very strong.

“We won’t have home advantage, we’ll be playing at altitude sometimes and we’ll be going to some tough places.”

The qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup start in October and Chile will be expected to do well following their success, but Sampaoli said that for now he just wanted to enjoy the experience of winning the Copa.

Copa winners since 1993

Winners since 1993 when the tournament was first played as a 12-nation tournament with two invited teams from outside South America:

Titles per country since 1916
15 times Uruguay; 14 Argentina; 8 Brazil; 2 Paraguay, Peru; 1 Colombia, Bolivia, Chile.