Soccer-Argentina held in Swiss friendly

BERNE, Switzerland, June 2 (Reuters) - Argentina's preparations for the Copa America got off to a shaky start on Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Switzerland.

The twice World Cup winners put their Swiss hosts under plenty of early pressure during the match at Basel's St Jakob stadium but struggled to carve out many notable chances in a first half hampered by heavy rain and a sodden pitch.

The visitors finally went ahead five minutes after the restart when Carlos Tevez hurled himself full length to head home a Lionel Messi left-foot cross.

But Switzerland then grabbed an unlikely equaliser with Stuttgart striker Marco Streller steering in a loose ball following a rare mix-up in the Argentine defence.

Alfio Basile's side had further chances to restore their lead but were first denied when Philipp Degen cleared a short-range Esteban Cambiasso shot off the line.

With eight minutes remaining, substitute Diego Milito beat the Swiss offside trap only to smash his subsequent shot wide.

Argentina will be looking to improve on Tuesday when they play their last pre-tournament warm-up against Algeria in Barcelona.