Argentina forward Lionel Messi played - and scored - in his country's Olympic opener against Ivory Coast after a late deal was struck with his Spanish football club Barcelona.
Messi put Argentina 1-0 up against the African team with a 43rd-minute goal and set up the winner to inspire the defending champions to a 2-1 win.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled yesterday that Barcelona wasn't obliged to release Messi for the tournament, raising the prospect he could be called home for a Champions League qualifier later this month.
But a deal was reached over full injury insurance and release from friendly games for the whole season.
A Barcelona spokesman says they wanted the 21-year-old player to be happy and he is.
In other games, Ronaldinho's Brazil struggled to beat nine-man Belgium 1-0 but top their group after China drew 1-1 with New Zealand.
Former winners Cameroon drew 0-0 with South Korea and Nigeria were held 0-0 by Netherlands.The United States beat Japan 1-0 and Italy beat Honduras 3-0.