MINSK, Belarus (AP) -Belarus held a weakened Argentina team to a 0-0 draw Wednesday in a friendly ahead of upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Argentina was without several of its best players, including FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who are at the Beijing Olympics.
Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez came close to scoring early on with a low left-footed shot that was saved by Belarus goalkeeper Yuri Zhevnov.
Vitaly Bulyga squandered the home side's best chance in the 28th minute, missing the net from close range. Argentina's Napoli striker German Denis then hit the crossbar off a header by Fabricio Coloccini before halftime.
Vitaly Kutuzov had a good chance for Belarus in the 64th but his right-footed strike was saved by Juan Pablo Carrizo.
It was Argentina's fourth consecutive draw following ties against the United States, Ecuador and Brazil.
Argentina is second in the South American World Cup qualifying table on 11 points, and will play leader Paraguay when the qualifiers resume on Sept. 6.
Belarus will open qualifying against Ukraine in European qualifying on the same day. Croatia, England, Kazakhstan and Andorra are also in Group Six.
---
Lineups:
Belarus: Dmitri Verhovcov, Sergei Omelyanchuk, Egor Filipenko, Aliaksandr Gleb, vladimir Korotko, Aleksandr Kulchy, Anton Putilo (Aleksandr Pavlov, 80), Oleg Strahanovich (Dmitry Mimolosh, 80), Vitaly Bulyga, Vitaly Kutuzov.
Argentina: Juan Pablo Carrizo, Nicolas Burdisso, Fabricio Coloccini, Gabriel Heinze, Luis Gonzalez, Jonas Gutirrez, Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Pablo Ledesma (Fernando Cavenaghi, 65), German Denis (Mariano Gonzales, 65), Carlos Tevez (Lisandro Lopez, 81).
