MARACAIBO, Venezuela -- Missing most of its top players, the United States got spanked in its Copa America opener.
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Hernan Crespo scored twice, Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tevez added late goals and Argentina routed a youthful United States team 4-1 Thursday night in South America's championship.
Eddie Johnson put the U.S. ahead with a penalty kick in the ninth minute, but Crespo scored in the 11th and 64th minutes for fifth-ranked Argentina, which increasingly outplayed the Americans as the game progressed. Aimar connected in the 78th minute and Tevez scored in the 85th, six minutes after entering.
"We came down here to win. We didn't come here to walk around with our tail between our legs and hope for the best," said defender Jimmy Conrad, one of the few regulars to play for the Americans. "Ultimately, win or lose, it's a great learning experience for our team, and I think our program will become better because of it."
The loss was the first for the United States since a 2-1 defeat to Ghana on June 22 last year in Germany, which eliminated the Americans from the World Cup. They had been 10-0-1 under Bob Bradley, who coached his first road game since replacing Bruce Arena as coach late last year.
"We put a lot of effort into the first 60 minutes, and I think when Argentina raised the level over the last 30 minutes, we weren't able to match that," Bradley said.
Kasey Keller made his 101st international appearance, moving ahead of Tony Meola for the record among U.S. goalkeepers, but he was overwhelmed in the second half as his defense tired. Argentina outshot the United States 10-6.
"At times, we didn't do a good enough job holding the ball," Bradley said. "We just started trying to beat their defense with one pass, and I think we needed to be able to move better off the ball and keep possession a little better."
On Monday, the U.S. team plays Paraguay, which routed Colombia 5-0 in the opener of the doubleheader. The Colombians face Argentina.
The United States shocked Argentina 3-0 in the first round of the 1995 Copa America in Uruguay, but the Albiceleste already was assured of advancing and left many regulars out of its starting lineup.
This time, with former Argentine great Diego Maradona looking on in a national team jersey, Argentina fielded a full-strength lineup filled with stars from the world's top clubs.
Defender Jonathan Bornstein and midfielder Benny Feilhaber were the only holdovers from the U.S. starting lineup Sunday, when the Americans beat Mexico 2-1 in Chicago to win their second consecutive CONCACAF Gold Cup. Instead, the 13th-ranked Americans fielded a youthful side that included six starters with 10 international appearances or fewer.
Among them was Marvell Wynne, son of the former major league baseball player, who had his national team debut. Herculez Gomez, who replaced Taylor Twellman in the 69th minute, also made his first appearance for the national team.
Feilhaber, who had a spectacular winning goal against Mexico, created the play that led to the opening goal. Feilhaber split the defense with a pass half the length of the field in the seventh minute, and Johnson ran onto the ball for a breakaway on goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri.
Johnson was knocked down from behind by Gabriel Milito, and Chilean referee Carlos Candia didn't hesitate to call the penalty. Johnson slotted the ball to the right post, with Abbondanzieri breaking the other way, for his 11th goal in 27 international appearances.
Argentina didn't waste any time in getting the equalizer. Juan Roman Riquelme took a free kick from about 35 yards out. The ball bounced through the defense and Gabriel Heinze got to it ahead of Keller. The ball went to Crespo, who put it in the open net.
Argentina didn't have another good scoring chance until the 43rd minute, when Keller leaped and with his right hand tipped Juan Sebastian Veron's blistering right-footed shot from about 20 yards off the crossbar.
Crespo scored his second goal off a pass from Messi, speeding unmarked into the penalty area and beating Keller from 8 yards. Aimar scored on a header from 12 yards off a cross from Heinze, who bent the ball back from near the corner. Tevez then collected a through ball from Riquelme on a failed offside trap, touched it ahead to himself and slotted the ball just inside the post to Keller's right.
