Lionel Messi shed the preception that he is only a great player for Barcelona on Wednesday when the superstar forward scored a hat trick against Switzerland in an international friendly at Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, in a victory for Argentina, 3-1.

Messi opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a left-footed shot from just inside the penalty box to put Argentina in the lead heading into halftime. Sergio Aguero was credited for the fine assist for his backheel that caught Messi in stride.

Switzerland would even the match in the 49th minute when Xherdan Shaqiri scored a left-footed blast inside the box following a whiff from Eren Derdiyok.

The final minutes of the match belonged to Messi and Argentina. The Ballon d'Or winner scored in the 87th with a dynamic run, and then sealed the victory for the visitors with a penalty kick goal in the 90th minute.

Here are the highlights from the Argentina - Switzerland match:

Switzerland vs Argentina 1:3 ALL GOALS... by maidb7abc

Argentina Lionel Messi Argentina Argentina