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SHANGHAI, China -- Lionel Messi scored on his long-awaited and nearly canceled Olympic debut to inspire Argentina to a 2-1 victory Thursday over the Ivory Coast.
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Almost pulled out of the competition by FC Barcelona, Messi scored in the 43rd minute at the Shanghai Olympic Stadium to give Argentina the lead. Sekou Cisse equalized 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 shot had been blocked by the goalkeeper.
Messi said he talked to the Barcelona's coach, Pep Guardiola, on Thursday about his situation.
"He told me that everything was settled," Messi said. "I want to thank the club, the coach and the players."
The player, who was taken off in the fourth minute of injury time, said it was important Argentina began the competition with a victory.
"Today we had to win. We're calm. At the end I was a little tired, because of the field and the heat, it was very heavy. It was a high-rhythm match. I'm happy because we won, but I think we can do better."
Argentina coach Sergio Batista praised Messi's performance and the fact that he had wasted no time getting used to the conditions. He had been training with Barcelona in much cooler weather in Scotland.
"Messi had a fantastic game just like every other player," Batista said. "He has fantastic pace and he had prepared himself for this game very well along with his teammates 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 great performance would be a big 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."
Messi's involvement in the Olympic soccer tournament was in doubt right up until kickoff time because his club, FC 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 Spanish newspaper reports said Barcelona finally agreed.
