Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter HOUSTON (AP) – There certainly were plenty of things the United States wishes it had done better or differently in Tuesday’s Copa America semifinal against Argentina. However, it’s entirely possible there was nothing these players could have done to neutralize Lionel Messi in a 4-0 loss that illustrated just how wide the gap is between U.S. soccer and the world’s elite. “He’s one of the — you could say the best player in the world,” defender Geoff Cameron said. “We didn’t do ourselves any favors. Yeah, you can pat ourselves on the back and be happy we got here in the semifinals. Obviously it’s a massive achievement. But saying that, we didn’t perform as well as we should have or could have, and we’ll look back and be disappointed for sure.” The five-time world player of the year set up Ezequiel Lavezzi’s opening goal in the third minute, then scored on a free kick to break Argentina’s career scoring record and assisted on the final goal to put La Albiceleste into the Copa America final against defending champion Chile or Colombia. “This was the goal when we got here, to play another final, and we made it,” Messi said. “We’ve been spectacular from day one and we deserved this” After Messi doubled the lead in the 32nd minute with his 55th international goal, his fifth of the tournament, Gonzalo Higuain quickly ended U.S. comeback hopes when he put the rebound of his initial shot past goalkeeper
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