QINHUANGDAO, China — When Pia Sundhage became head coach of the U.S. women’s soccer team late last year, she serenaded her discouraged players by singing “The Times They Are A Changin.’ ”

Apparently they are not changing quickly enough.

The first appearance by the Americans in a major international tournament under Sundhage ended disastrously on Wednesday with a 2-0 loss to Norway in an opening-round match of the Beijing Olympics.

This tournament was supposed to serve as a redemptive moment for the United States after a disappointing third-place finish at the 2007 Women’s World Cup and the heavy-handed banishment of goalkeeper Hope Solo after she criticized her benching in a 4-0 semifinal loss to Brazil.

But the Americans entered the Olympics without their most forceful player and leading scorer, forward Abby Wambach, who fractured the tibia and fibula in her left leg last month. In Wambach’s absence, her teammates seemed nervous and uncertain to open the match against Norway. Early on, they lacked energy, confidence and cohesion, and were stunned by two goals in the first four minutes after clumsy mistakes by Solo and Kate Markgraf, one of the team’s most experienced defenders.