"I lament the score," Pinto said.
"I'm sorry for Colombia and for my country."
Colombia dominated the first half of the opening game in Maracaibo but wasted an excellent chance in the 28th minute when Dominguez's penalty was saved by Justo Villar.
Two minutes later, Bayern Munich striker Santa Cruz broke clear of the defence to put Paraguay ahead before adding another just 22 seconds after halftime, and completed his treble in the 79th minute.
Substitute Salvador Cabanas compounded Colombia's misery by scoring two goals of his own in the dying stages.
"We missed a penalty and then they took advantage of the spaces we left and the mistakes we made in defence," a dazed Pinto said.
"We dominated the game."
Gerardo Martino, Paraguay coach, agreed the missed penalty was decisive.
"The key moment was the penalty, which Villar saved," Martino said.
"The team was ruthless. We didn't have much of the ball but we got to the opponents' penalty area and scored."
Cup favourites slow to start
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Argentina substitute Carlos Tevez tucks away
the third goal for his team in the 4-1 win [AFP] |
In the second match on Thursday, Argentina, tournament favourites, survived an early setback against the USA when they went behind to an Eddie Johnson penalty before two Hernan Crespo goals put them on track for an impressive win.
Argentina had star midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme back in the side after rethinking his decision to quit and Juan Sebastian Veron playing his first competitive international since 2003.
Johnson won and converted a ninth-minute penalty to give the United States, who are playing as Copa invitees and brought an experimental team, a shock lead.
Crespo equalised two minutes later but Argentina were then frustrated by a packed US defence for nearly an hour before the same striker got his second in the 64th minute, running onto to Lionel Messi's pass and placing his shot beyond Kasey Keller.
Aimar and Tevez finish off
Substitutes Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tevez added two more goals late in the game as their opponents were forced to open up.
"We knew it was going to be hard and that they would defend all the time," Riquelme said.
"But we played with patience.
"We knew we had 90 minutes and we were always sure we would win the game."
Meanwhile, Brazil, upset 2-0 by Mexico on Thursday, suffered a further setback when striker Fred broke his foot during training and was ruled out of the rest of the tournament.
Coach Dunga, whose team must beat Chile on Sunday to stay alive in Group B, admitted he hardly slept after the defeat and had watched the match twice more in a bid to correct mistakes.