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Copa America favorites Argentina put four past the US

Striker Hernan Crespo equalled Diego Maradona's Argentine goal count as the Copa America favorites beat the US 4-1 on Thursday in one of two blowouts in Group C.

Roque Santa Cruz scored a hat trick to lead Paraguay to a 5-0 thrashing of Colombia, exposing a team which had come to this South American championship with its eyes on the title.

In today's games, Uruguay will try to rebound from their 3-0 loss to Peru when they meet the relatively weak Bolivia at San Cristobal, while Peru will take on hosts Venezuela. No games were scheduled yesterday.

The US successfully defended the CONCACAF Gold Cup last Sunday, but only four members of that winning side played against Argentina -- two as second-half substitutes -- and they were outgunned by an Argentina side which is close to full strength.

After the US went ahead in the ninth minute via a penalty by Eddie Johnson, the Argentines quickly equalized as Crespo knocked home a loose ball after a free kick by Juan Roman Riquelme.

Argentina renewed offense in the second half, with Crespo scoring his record-equaling goal, followed by a charging header by substitute Pablo Aimar. Carlos Tevez, who started on the bench, added the fourth in the final minutes.

Crespo equaled Maradona's 34 goals for "la albiceleste." The achievement was made special by the presence of Maradona at the game. Retired stiker Gabriel Batistuta is Argentina's all-time top scorer, with 56 goals.

"It's an immense honor for me to equal the achievement of Diego," Crespo said.

The win was an ideal start for Alfio Basile's experienced squad, which are seeking their 15th Copa America title, breaking the tie on 14 titles they share with Uruguay.

In the earlier match, Santa Cruz's hat-trick saw Paraguay record their biggest ever win over Colombia, surpassing 3-0 victories in 1949, 1957 and 1985.

Second-half substitute Salvador Cabanas scored Paraguay's last two goals in the final 10 minutes, when a tired Colombia defense had already collapsed.

Paraguay face the US in their next match on Monday in Barinas and Argentina stay in Maracaibo to take on Colombia the same day.

Off the field, Brazilian striker Fred was ruled out for the rest of the tournament after breaking his right foot during a practice match.

The Olympique Lyon forward didn't take part in the upset opening loss to Mexico, but coach Dunga had been counting on the player being available for the match tomorrow against Chile in Maturin, which the five-time World Cup-winners must win to reinvigorate their championship hopes.

Ten minutes into the second half of the US-Argentina match, the mostly Venezuelan crowd of 40,000 came to its feet and shouted "libertad, libertad, libertad" -- Spanish for freedom -- in defiance of President Hugo Chavez, who is a critic of the US.

The Copa America is being hosted by Venezuela for the first time in its 91-year history and Chavez' government has spent lavishly -- more than US$1 billion -- building or renovating nine stadiums and related infrastructure.

Apart from Thursday's chanting, and a brief heckling of Chavez at the opening ceremony in San Cristobal, the games have been free of disturbances. However, regional governing body CONMEBOL cited security concerns for its decision to move one of the semi-finals from Caracas.
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