By Ridge Mahoney in San Diego

Much ado was made about the debut of Freddy Adu for the U.S. national team, but it was another player making his first appearance who influenced the game the most.

New England goalkeeper Matt Reis seldom came under pressure, but twice he defused dangerous situations with top-class stops as the USA and Canada labored to a 0-0 draw in a friendly on Sunday that marked the USA's first game of the World Cup year.

Adu came on in the 81st minute for injured Eddie Johnson and shortly thereafter received a yellow card from referee Benito Archundia after being clipped by defender Adam Braz after pushing the ball past him in the penalty area.

''Probably anywhere else on the field that's a foul,'' said Adu. ''There was contact, I was off-balance and I went down. The ref's in a tough spot. Either he calls for a penalty kick or gives me a yellow card. But at that point, why not?''

At 16 years, 234 days old, Adu became the youngest player to play for the U.S. national team. Previously, the youngest to debut had been Mike Slivinski, who was 16 years 318 days old when he appeared against Jamaica on Sept. 14, 1991.

''I was very excited, I wasn't nervous,'' said Adu. ''I just got out there and played my game. The guys have been awesome to me the last three weeks. I got out there and just tried to help the team out. We didn't pull out the win, but it's a good first step.''

Johnson, out of action five months with stress fractures and muscle damage in his right big toe, came on as a substitute but had to leave 24 minutes later after being injured in a collision. An MRI came back negative and he was diagnosed with a contusion on his right calf.

Reis charged out of the penalty area in the first half to kick clear a dangerous through ball from Dwayne De Rosario and in the second half he stood up to deny De Rosario after a slip by Eddie Pope allowed De Rosario a prime scoring chance.

Coach Bruce Arena deployed Taylor Twellman, Brian Ching and Josh Wolff up front in a 4-3-3 formation for the first half. Chris Klein replaced right back Frankie Hejduk at halftime, and Klein pushed up into midfield as the U.S. shape changed to a 3-4-3.

Twellman shot over the bar after dribbling from the touchline to the top of the penalty arc, and Brian Ching headed a good chance wide. Hejduk tested Greg Sutton with a low shot the Canadian keeper saved well at the near post.

Heath Pearce, in his first U.S. start, played the full 90 minutes at left back. He didn't get forward perhaps as much as he and Arena would have liked.

Clint Dempsey and Ben Olsen were seldom in sync in support of the forwards and Landon Donovan. After a quiet first half Donovan roused himself at the start of the second 45 minutes, but later fizzled out. Klein whipped over several dangerous crosses but for the most part the final serving passes lacked precision.

Adrian Serioux and Atiba Hutchinson got the better of Olsen and Dempsey numerous times, and midfielder Sandro Grande's energy and touches troubled the U.S. before he tired in the second half.

SA REPORT CARD
(1=low; 5=average; 10=high)
STARTERS:
7 Matt Reis
5 Frankie Hejduk
4 Eddie Pope
5 Jimmy Conrad
5 Heath Pearce
3 Clint Dempsey
4 Ben Olsen
4 Landon Donovan
4 Brian Ching
4 Taylor Twellman
6 Josh Wolff
SUBS:
5 Kerry Zavagnin
4 Eddie Johnson
6 Chris Klein
NR Chris Rolfe
NR Freddy Adu

Game Summary
Jan. 22 in San Diego, Calif.

USA 0 Canada 0

USA — Reis, Pearce, Conrad, Pope, Hejduk (Klein, 46), Olsen (Zavagnin, 46), Donovan, Dempsey,á Wolff (Rolfe, 73), Ching, Twellman (Johnson, 56; Adu, 81)

Canada — Sutton, Braz, Jazic, Gervais, Reda, Serioux (Ademolu, 84), Reda, Grande (Johnson, 70), Bernier, Hutchinson, Friend, De Rosario.

Stats: USA/CAN
Shots: 10/9
Saves: 2/2
Corner Kicks: 6/4
Fouls: 11/17
Offside: 3/3

Yellow cards: USA – Adu 85; Canada – Berneir – 90.
Red cards: none

Att.: 6,077

Referee: Benito Archundia (MEX); 1st Asst.:áJose Ramirez (MEX); 2nd Asst.: Pedro Rebollar (MEX); Fourth Official: Kevin Stott (USA).