Barcelona star Lionel Messi has heaped praise on Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain.

The pair impressed in Argentina's win over Venezuela.

"Higuain is a great player because he scores a lot of goals," Messi told reporters after the match. "Every time we play, our understanding together increases.

"Playing together is a great joy shared amongst the members of the Argentina squad. The most important thing is to win, no matter who makes the assists or gets the goals.

"We knew they [Venezuela] would try to hit us on the break, but we had the ball, and scored the first goal. Space opened up for us after that. We were patient."