On the day his grandmother died back home, Angel Di Maria's mother asked him to stay with his team, stay focused, and represent his country well in Copa America.
He made them all proud with a gutsy performance.
Di Maria scored in the 51st minute off a pass from Ever Banega, then later assisted on Banega's goal, and top-ranked Argentina looked plenty powerful without injured captain Lionel Messi in beating Chile 2-1 in its Copa America opener Monday night.
After his goal, Di Maria held up a shirt reading "Grandma, I'll miss you very much."
"I am so happy because I was able to score. It was for my grandmother and my family that are having a difficult time," Di Maria said. "In the morning when I knew what happened I knew that I would score today, and that happened, and it was for her. The coach was afraid I was not going to play, but if I don't play my grandma was going to get mad."
Di Maria assisted on Banega's deflected goal in the 59th minute as Messi cheered from the bench.
Jose Pedro Fuenzalida scored in the third minute of stoppage time as Chile avoided a shutout.
There were five yellow cards issued in a testy rematch of last year's final won by La Roja on penalty kicks. Cards were given to Di Maria and Gary Medel in the 65th minute after they tussled near the left sideline of Argentina's offensive half.
Chile's Eugenio Mena was taken off on a stretcher in the 53rd minute after pulling up and appearing to grab his right hamstring, with no contact made.
Playing at home last year, Chile beat Argentina and Messi 4-1 on penalty kicks for La Roja's first Copa championship. Argentina's senior team has not won a major title since the 1993 Copa, losing to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final.
Argentina beat Chile 2-1 in World Cup qualifying in Santiago on March 24.
Monday's match in the San Francisco 49ers' $1.3 billion stadium outdrew the Friday opener in which Colombia beat the United States 2-0. A crowd of 67,439 was announced.
Both teams had good chances in a fast-paced first half featuring two yellow cards against Chile.
Nicolas Gaitan had a header from 8 yards in the second minute that Chile goalkeeper Johnny Herrera punched over the crossbar.
In the 18th minute, Gaitan - starting in place of Messi - went down hard and his right knee buckled after a tackle from behind by Arturo Vidal that earned him a yellow card.
Gonzalo Higuain's shot from the left side in the box went just left off the post in the 23rd minute, thenArgentina had another chance thwarted on Marcos Rojo's header off a corner kick.
Martino is optimistic Messi might be ready to return for Friday's match against Panama in Chicago.
Messi testified last Thursday in his tax fraud trial in Spain and joined the national team the next day. He didn't get to catch up with Golden State Warriors superstar MVP Stephen Curry, who instead offered his well wishes after a Game 2 NBA Finals win against Cleveland.
Chile defender Gonzalo Jara played in his first Copa match since sticking his finger into the backside of Uruguay's Edinson Cavani in the 2015 Copa quarterfinals that earned Jara a three-game suspension.
U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati was in attendance at sold-out Levi's Stadium ahead of traveling to Chicago for the Americans' second Group A stage match Tuesday against Costa Rica.
Blas Perez scored two goals, including the winner in the 87th minute, and Panama beat Bolivia 2-1 on a rainy Monday night in a Group D Copa America opener.
Abdiel Arroyo beat a defender at the edge of the 18-yard box, pulling out goalkeeper Carlos Lampe. Arroyo found a trailing Perez in front of an empty net.
Panama became the first non-CONMEBOL team to win its Copa America debut.
Perez opened the scoring in the 11th minute. After forcing a turnover deep in Bolivia territory, Alberto Quintero ran down a through ball near the goal line, fed a cross in front of the net, and Perez made a sliding finish.
Juan Carlos Arce tied it 1-1 in the 54th. A long free kick was deflected inside the 6-yard box and an open Carlos Arce powered it into the net.