Argentina 1 - 1 Bolivia: Frustration for Lionel Messi

Argentina escaped a shock upset in the opening match of the Copa America when substitute Sergio Aguero's late volley earned the hosts a 1-1 draw with Bolivia.

It was a stuttering start for coach Sergio Batista and host nation Argentina, who were out-hustled for much of the Group A match, and did little to justify their tag as joint favourites for the South American championship, along with Brazil.

Bolivia soaked up the pressure in the first half before snatching the lead early in the second through Edivaldo Rojas. Argentina had to wait until the 77th minute for the equaliser when Aguero slammed the ball home.

Argentina's Lionel Messi, widely regarded as the world's best player, again failed to translate his stunning club form with Barcelona on to the international stage. He seldom threatened to score or set up chances and was marked tightly by the Bolivian defence and had few chances to shine.

"It is not what we expected, now we must improve and we win our remaining (group] matches," a visibly disappointed Messi said. "This makes us sad because we did not achieve our objective, which was to win. We did things well, but we have to improve. Now we need tranquility."

Messi was even involved in a flare-up with Bolivia's Ronald Raldes which saw the two players going head to head.

"The referee let them get away with some things," Argentina forward Carlos Tevez said. "But we can't blame him. We did not play well."

Having weathered a first-half storm at the Ciudad de La Plata stadium, Bolivia stunned Argentina two minutes into the second half when Jhasmany Campos hit a corner low to the near post where Rojas back-heeled it past goalkeeper Sergio Romero.

Marcelo Martins looked set to give Bolivia a two-goal lead on the hour when he beat Argentina's offside trap but Romero dived to touch the ball away from the striker's feet then got up to block his second effort.

"We had a couple of situations that if we'd put them away we could have won the match," Bolivia's Argentine-born coach Gustavo Quinteros said.

Argentina equalised with 13 minutes left when Nicolas Burdisso chested down a cross from Marcos Rojo and Aguero volleyed home.Minutes after his goal, Aguero might have snatched a win for the hosts but his shot brought a diving save from Bolivia goalie Carlos Arias.

The opening draw is unlikely to prove too costly for Argentina because eight of the 12 teams will progress to the quarter-finals, meaning only the last-placed team in each of the three groups are sure to miss out. Argentina are trying to win their first major trophy since taking the Copa America in 1993.

Bolivia - a nation that usually vies with Venezuela to avoid last place in the South American competition - slowly took the play away from Argentina, winning more loose balls and showing more grit that the favoured hosts and deservedly took the lead.

The surprise result evoked memories of the match two years ago when Argentina, under coach Diego Maradona, were hammered 6-1 by Bolivia in a World Cup qualifier played at 11,500ft altitude in La Paz.

Aguero's equaliser gave Argentina all the momentum in the final 15 minutes, but again they failed to fashion the required teamwork to break down the stubborn Bolivia defence, with Messi and Tevez resorting to individual efforts to try to win the game.

Argentina will face Colombia on Wednesday in their second group game, while Bolivia will take on Costa Rica the following day.

Brazil, who have won four of the past five Copa tournaments, open their campaign tonight against Venezuela in Group B.