Barcelona star Lionel Messi admits he copied Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo's free-kick approach for his strike against Uruguay.

The Ballon d'Or winner was on target in Argentina's 3-0 victory and placed his set piece beneath the wall.

"I saw that the goalkeeper wanted to come forward and also noticed the wall was preparing to jump," explained Messi.

"I saw recently that Pirlo and Ronaldinho had scored this way. I had some doubts, but I gave it a go and it went well."