Barcelona striker Lionel Messi scored a magic goal to help Argentina beat Cote d'Ivoire 2-1 on the first day of the Olympic men's soccer while China drew with New Zealand 1-1 thanks to Manchester United striker Dong Fangzhuo's last-gasp goal.
Messi has just escaped from a tug-of-war between Barcelona club and the Argentine Football Association, despite the Court of Arbitration for Sports ruled that three European clubs win the appeal of refusing to release U23 players to Olympics, which is against FIFA's stance.
The 21-year-old put the defending champion ahead in the 43rd minute when he collected a defence-splitting through ball from Juan Riquelme and beat the Ivorian keeper Vincent Angban calmly with a low drive.
After Sekou Cisse equalized with a header in the 53rd minute, the Elephants seemed to play better and better.
However, Messi killed the opponents' effort by a wizard set-up. He played a one-two with Riquelme before firing a bullet shot to force Angban to miss the ball to the far post, and substitute striker Lautaro Acosta poked into the empty net to take the winner.
In its second match of Group A, Argentina will face Australia, which drew with Serbia 1-1 on Thursday.
Hosts China failed to meet home fans' expectation in its opening match of Group C, held 1-1 by underdogs New Zealand.
New Zealand broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute, when midfielder Craig Henderson chested the ball down near the Chinese box and flicked it to a running Jeremy Brockie, who duly slammed it into the back of the net.
The hosts equalized in the 88th minute. Subsititute forward Dong Fangzhuo, who plays for Manchester United, scored the late goal with a header.
China's next group rival will be Belgium, who conceded a 1-0 loss to powerful Brazil on Thursday. Midfielder Hernanes scored the winning goal for Brazil in the 79th minute when he launched a left-footed shot on a flick from playmaker Diego, who plays for German club Werder Bremen.
In Group B, the United States edged Japan 1-0 with midfielder Stuart Holden's 47th-minute goal while the European under-23 champion Netherlands drew 1-1 with Nigeria.
In Group D, Italy crushed Honduras 3-0 and South Korea drew 1-1 with Cameroon.
(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2008)