Ouch! Argentina 4, USA 1

Bob Bradley's side of C-listers fought the good fight until halftime, actually scoring first from the penalty spot after Ed Johnson was mowed over in the box. Two minutes later there was a quick response from Argentina from a well-designed set piece. So, it was 1-1 at halftime and I even allowed myself to dream of the USA taking a point from the tournament favorites. But then came the Lionel Messi avalanche in the second half, not so coincidentally it came following the insertion of Eddie Gaven into the line-up.

In the first half, the U.S. played a spirited match and I think caught Argentina off guard with their speed. Eddie Johnson was able to get in behind the defense for a beautifully slotted pass from Gold Cup final Patriot of the Pitch© Benny Feilhaber. Eddie went in one-v-one with the keeper and inexplicably stopped in the area, after which he was mowed down by a couple of Argentine defenders tracking back. Good thing the PK was called because Johnson's run and stall didn't give me the feeling that he could have beaten the keeper. The American splendor lasted about two minutes (during which I imagined a 1-0 win and the letter of apology I would have to write to Bob Bradley), and then Argentina responded. With everyone in the world thinking that Juan Roman Riquelme was lining up the 25-yard free kick for a crack at goal, he expertly dropped it in behind the wall where Gabriel Heinze got to it before Kasey Keller and it fell to Hernan Crespo who volleyed it past the only World Cup veteran Bradley chose to bring. 1-1.

Despite the score at halftime, it was obvious to anyone watching that it was only a matter of time before our defense was carved up like Christmas ham. Our midfield couldn't hold the ball and we could barely string more than four passes together, and the defense was relying mostly on some tightly called officiating to get out of difficult situations. It was like the beginning of 300 when you think, hey, the Spartans doing all right, after wave upon wave of Persian attack is thwarted. But then you see the wide shot and the Persians sheer numbers. Or in this case, then you see the wide shot of Columbus Crew benchwarmer Eddie Gaven entering the match.

I'm not pinning it only on Gaven (although I still think he is a ridiculous selection) because the second half saw the U.S. just run out of gas. A group of young, inexperienced players with few-to-no caps going up against one of the best sides in the world. As a point of comparison, our first two subs were Gaven and Herculez Gomez; Argentina's first two subs were Juan Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tevez. (sigh)

I don't think I need to describe each Argentine goal that came after that. They were all world class. You can read about them elsewhere. Suffice it to say, Messi had a field day on the left against Gaven and a very tired Marvell Wynne. There were few standout performances in the second half for the U.S., as Argentina’s high level of play and the team's inexperience caught up with them. It is difficult to pick a Patriot of the Pitch© in this one, but I'm going to have to go with Feilhaber in the second consecutive game because he was asked to do so much -- to hold the ball in midfield and to orchestrate – and he did a pretty good job considering. He showed flashes of creativity and ran at Argentina unafraid. It was just too much for one player to contend with, especially when most of his help had been running on empty since minute 40.

Bradley had this to say after the match (ussocer.com): "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 were unable to match that ... When you play in tournaments like this, you have to understand the level of competition. We certainly started this tournament playing against one of the favorites. This is the first game. We understand that the first round is three games, so it is critical that we pull ourselves together for the match against Paraguay. Argentina is a good team. We all know they have great players."

Funny, that Bradley should mention understanding "the level of competition" because judging by his roster selection he did not. And it will not get any easier in game two judging by Paraguay's complete dismantling of Colombia (5-0). Jimmy Conrad meet Roque Santa Cruz. (sigh)

Goals
USA – Eddie Johnson (penalty kick) 9.
ARG – Hernan Crespo (Gabriel Heinze) 11.
ARG – Hernan Crespo (Lionel Messi) 64.
ARG – Pablo Aimar (Gabriel Heinze) 78.
ARG – Carlos Tevez (Juan Ramon Riquelme) 85.

Lineups:
USA: 18-Kasey Keller (c) 2-Marvell Wynne, 3-Jay DeMerit, 12-Jimmy Conrad, 13-Jonathan Bornstein; 5-Benny Feilhaber, 19-Ricardo Clark (17-Kyle Beckerman, 79), 14-Ben Olsen (11-Eddie Gaven, 62), 21-Justin Mapp; 20-Taylor Twellman (8-Herculez Gomez, 69), 9-Eddie Johnson

Subs not used: 4-Bobby Boswell, 6-Heath Pearce, 7-Dan Califf, 10-Charlie Davies, 15-Drew Moor, 16-Sacha Kljestan, 23-Brad Guzan, 25-Lee Nguyen

ARG: 1-Robert Abbondanzieri; 8-Javier Zanetti, 2-Robert Ayala (c), 15-Gabriel Milito, 6-Gabriel Heinze; 14-Javier Mascherano, 20-Juan Sebastian Veron, 19-Esteban Cambiasso (16-Pablo Aimar, 58), 10-Juan Roman Riquelme; 18-Lionel Messi (11-Carlos Tevez, 79), 9-Hernan Crespo

Subs not used: 3-Daniel Diaz, 4-Hugo Ibarra, 5-Fernando Gago, 7-Rodrigo Palacio, 12-Juan Pablo Carrizo, 13-Luis Gonzalez, 17-Nicolas Burdisso, 21-Diego Milito, 22-Gustavo Orion

Misconduct Summary:
ARG – Gabriel Milito (caution) 58.
USA – Jonathan Bornstein (caution) 73.

Patriot of the Pitch© : Benny Feilhaber.

ussoccer.com's Match Report

I can't watch anymore, but if you want to