Messi 2008 Summer Olympics

Having originally been barred by Barcelona from playing for his country in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, agreed to release him on the condition that he would play fewer international friendlies. He joined the Argentina squad and scored the first goal in a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast. He then scored the opening goal and assisted in the second to help his side to a 2-1 extra-time win against the Netherlands. He gave another strong performance in Argentina's match against rival Brazil, in which Argentina took a 3-0 victory, thus advancing to the final. In the gold medal match, Messi assisted Ángel Di María for the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Nigeria.