E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The United States national team bounced back from a pair of losses to England and Spain in Europe to play Argentina, the top-ranked team in the world, to an entertaining scoreless draw in front of 78,682 at Giants Stadium on a steamy Sunday night.
Argentina dominated the opening half-hour, but was stymied by the brilliance of Tim Howard. The Everton goalkeeper came up big on five minutes, making a kick save on Julio Cruz and then parried the rebound away.
A minute later a back heel by Maxi Rodriguez freed Cruz in on goal, but Danny Califf slid in and knocked the ball out for a corner kick, one of three for Argentina in the half.
Cruz again found himself with space in the box, but Howard was big off his line, diving at the Inter Milan forward without drawing a foul in the 15th minute.
Gabriel Heinze's open header two minutes later was wide of the net. In the 28th minute, Lionel Messi put Cruz through into the box, but Howard came up big again. He kicked away the shot for a corner kick. On the half hour, Messi couldn't find the target on a free kick from 26 yards out.
After surviving the initial Argentine onslaught, the U.S. slowed the game down, got more of possession and started to get scoring chances of its own. In the 32nd minute Clint Dempsey received the ball from Michael Bradley and his deflected shot from distance just missed the far post.
Three minutes later, Heath Pearce took a bouncing ball and unleashed a difficult shot that forced Robert Abbondanzieri to make a diving stop.
Two minutes before halftime, Eddie Johnson latched onto a Dempsey cross, but his diving header bounced into Abbondanzieri.
Howard wasn't done with his heroics, though. He stuck out his left arm and again robbed Cruz, time this thwarting his shot from 12 yards out.
Argentina boss Alfio Basile made two changes at the half, bringing on Martin Demichelis for Nicolas Burdisso and Jose Sosa replaced Messi.
U.S. manager Bob Bradley made one change, taking off his son Michael for Maurice Edu.
The U.S. reversed its first-half form and attacked from the outset after halftime. Landon Donovan had an inch of space at the top of the box off a deflected ball. But his shot was deflected out for a corner kick in the 47th minute. On the ensuing set piece, Oguchi Onyewu headed Donovan's ball off the crossbar.
For Donovan, it was his 100th national team apperance. Prior to the match, goalkeeper Kasey Keller was honored for his 100th national team cap, earned June 21, 2007.
Argentina came right back on a counter, with Cruz turning Califf around before freeing Sergio Aguero in the box. But Howard raced out, slid at Aguero, who went flying over the keeper. The Argentineans, as well as many in the crowd, appeared for a penalty, but Salvadoran referee Joel Aguilar Chicas emphatically waved play on.
In the 61st minute, the U.S. made a double switch, with Freddy Adu replacing Dempsey and Jay DeMerit coming on for Onyewu. Basile's third substitution came in the 64th minute with Lisandro Lopez coming on for Cruz.
Adu played Johnson behind the Argentina defense into the left side of the 18-yard box, but Abbondanzieri slid out and knocked the ball away in the 67th minute.
With Argentina preparing for a free kick following an Edu foul, Pablo Mastroeni was sent off by referee Aguilar with a straight red card as the Americans played the final 19 minutes with 10 men.
In the 74th minute, both teams made a change. Sacha Kljestan came on for Johnson while Fernado Cavenaghi replaced Rodriguez. Three minutes later, the crowd roared when Javier Zanetti made his appearance, replacing Pablo Zabalesta. In the 78th minute, Pearce left the match for Eddie Lewis and Frankie Hejduk replaced DaMarcus Beasley in the first minute of second-half stoppage time for the USA's final change.
Aguilar leveled the playing field in the 86th minute, sending Argentinean captain Javier Mascherano off for his second bookable offense for a kick to Donovan in the middle of the field.
The U.S. had a few quality scoring chances in the final eight minutes of the game, which was played under a driving rain. But Argentina cleared away a pair of Donovan corner kicks and DeMerit's header deflected out for a corner.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Donovan played the ball ahead to Kljestan, who cut the ball back and his shot deflected out for a corner kick.
Both teams returned seven starters from friendlies on Wednesday. Argentina thrashed Mexico 4-1 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego while the U.S. lost 1-0 at Spain.
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