updated 11:18 p.m. ET July 5, 2007

BARQUISIMETO, Venezuela - Brad Guzan made several key saves, including one on a penalty kick, but he couldn’t get to Jaime Castrillon’s 14th-minute header and the United States lost 1-0 to Colombia on Thursday night, completing an 0-3 trip to the Copa America.

The United States has lost three in a row for the first time since World Cup qualifiers against Mexico, Honduras and Costa Rica from July to September 2001, and U.S. coach Bob Bradley dropped to 0-3 in road games after a 10-0-1 start at home.

Colombia (1-2) and the United States were eliminated from South America’s championship on Wednesday when Brazil beat Ecuador. In the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader, Argentina (3-0) won 1-0 over Paraguay (2-1) on a 78th-minute goal by Javier Mascherano to finish atop Group C.

In the quarterfinals, Uruguay plays Venezuela on Saturday and Chile meets Brazil. On Sunday, Mexico faces Paraguay and Argentina plays Peru.

Colombia goalkeeper Robinson Zapata was given a second yellow card and ejected in the 84th minute against the United States when he fiddled with his shoe after Kyle Beckerman’s tying goal was called back for offside.

As his teammates pleaded with Venezuelan referee Manuel Andarcia to no avail, Zapata took off his goalkeeper’s jersey and striker Hugo Rodallega stepped into the net because Colombia had used all three of its substitutions.

The disorganized U.S. attack didn’t capitalize, however, and the Colombians even managed to send some counterattacks Guzan’s way during the rest of regulation and the four minutes of added time.

Guzan, who plays for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer mostly performed well in only his second international appearance. The first was a 4-0 exhibition win over Guatemala in February 2006.

Castrillon’s goal would have been tough for anyone to stop. It came off a long, perfectly placed pass from Camilo Zuniga on the right wing. Castrillon stepped past his defender and headed it smartly past Guzan into the far side of the net.

In the 34th, Guzan drew a penalty when he took down Rodallega in the box while going for a loose ball. He redeemed himself on the kick by correctly anticipating Rodallega’s shot and making a save that kept the score 1-0.

“In all three games, we had moments when we played well. But we still must be more consistent for 90 minutes in order to move to the next level,” Bradley said following the match.

Kasey Keller started the first two matches in goal for the United States, a 4-1 loss to Argentina and a 3-1 loss to Paraguay.

The United States sent a mostly inexperienced squad to the tournament after winning the championships of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The United States left many of the best players from that CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning team off this roster, and only six members of the 22-man roster had more than 10 international appearances when the Americans left for Venezuela.

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“We are here to give these guys this experience,” said Keller, a member of four U.S. World Cup teams. “Unfortunately, sometimes you have to make mistakes to learn. Hopefully now as we go forward in this tournament and into future games, we have learned from this experience and will be better for it.”

The U.S. team’s inexperience was singled out Wednesday, when a high-ranking CONMEBOL official criticized the Americans for not bringing their top squad. Brazil, too, is without superstars, but the five-time World Cup champions made it into the knockout stages with its 1-0 win over Ecuador.

The United States’ next international game is an exhibition against Sweden in Goteborg on Aug. 22. The next competitive match for the Americans will be in 2010 World Cup qualifying, likely to start in June.

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