Lionel Messi scored on his long-awaited and nearly cancelled Olympic debut to inspire Argentina to a 2-1 victory over the Ivory Coast.
Almost pulled out of the competition by Barcelona, Messi scored in the 43rd minute at the Shanghai Olympic Stadium to give Argentina the lead. Sekou Cisse equalised with a powerful header in the 52nd.
But Messi's shot set up the winner in the 85th, with Lautaro Acosta turning the ball home after the Barcelona star's strike had been blocked by the goalkeeper.
"Messi had a fantastic game just like every other player," coach Sergio Batista said. "He has fantastic pace and he had prepared himself for this game very well along with his team-mates and, after a lot of effort, he finally adapted to the [hot] weather so all our efforts in him have paid off."
He said that Messi's performance would be a confidence booster to the team.
"Definitely," Bastista said.
"Messi's going to be with us through the entire tournament and we are very optimistic about our prospects."
The Argentine's involvement in the Olympic soccer tournament was in doubt right up until kickoff time because his club, Barcelona, didn't want him to play and had won a ruling which allowed the Spanish team to pull him out.
But the Argentina coach said the star wanted to stay and play for the team and Barcelona finally agreed.
With his nonchalant flicks, Messi was involved in most of Argentina's moves but so was Juan Ramon Riquelme, the team's immensely talented playmaker.
The two repeatedly tore open the Ivory Coast defence, but Argentina needed too many passes to set up clear chances.
Riquelme had two free-kicks saved by Ivory Coast goalkeeper Vincent Angban and Messi set up a close-range chance for Ezequiel Lavezzi, who was unable to make clean contact with only Angban to beat.
The fast and skillful Ivorians showed they weren't just here to be part of the Lionel Messi show, however, and repeatedly got in behind the Argentine defence.
"It was really difficult to play against a team like Argentina because they are very good players and they have a lot of experience," said Ivorian striker Salomon Kalou.
"But we messed up. There were too many mistakes and too many fouls. The most important thing is that we are here. We are looking forward to playing our next two games [against Serbia and Australia] and we still have the chance to get through [to the quarter-final]."
Gervinho used his pace to get past Pablo Zabaleta and, when his run set up a chance for Kalou, he got the ball back and tapped into the net, only to be flagged offside.
Argentina went ahead just before half-time when Riquelme's perfectly timed ball sliced through the defense and Messi, already ahead of a defender, ran clear to slide the ball past Angban.
The Ivory Coast levelled in the 52nd minute. Gervinho went on another menacing run down the right and Mamadou Babayoko launched a high cross to Cisse, who jumped higher than Zabaleta and headed home.
The winner came five minutes from the end when Riquelme again released Messi down the left.
The Barcelona star's shot was parried by Angban but Acosta was unmarked and tapped in.