Lionel Messi is considered by many as the greatest footballer of all-time – and one of the constants alongside his success has been his wife Antonela Roccuzzo being by his side
Lionel Messi has been loved up with his much-adored childhood sweetheart since he was nine years old.
The 35-year-old built his reputation as one of the greatest footballers of all time at the Nou Camp with Barcelona, regularly scoring, assisting or showing off his skills, before leaving for PSG. He is also doing it on the world stage with Argentina and today claimed the ultimate prize in Qatar as he lifted the World Cup.
But another consistent part of his life in Spain was wife Antonela Roccuzzo, the Argentine’s childhood love who he now has three children with.
The pair met in their home town of Rosario, Argentina, through a mutual friend called Lucas Scaglia, who played with Messi in Newell’s Old Boys youth set-up.
When the new star of Paris was invited to his friend’s house for a summer, he met the midfielder’s cousin – Antonela.
When Messi turned 11, though, Barcelona came calling and he was shipped off to Spain, thinking the relationship was over.
The forward rose up the ranks at the Nou Camp before bursting onto the scene in 2004, going on to score 672 goals and win 27 major trophies in Spain.
But then word of a tragedy in Roccuzzo’s family reached him.
While she was studying dental medicine back home in Rosario, she had lost her best friend in a car crash.
And it saw Messi book a flight “as soon as he heard”, according to Hola! , as he comforted his childhood love during the tragic time.
But the episode also rekindled their affection for each other, with Antonela deciding to join the forward when he returned to Spain.
The couple went public with the relationship in 2009 – and became parents three years later when Thiago was born.
Between Mateo arriving in 2015 and Ciro three years later, they decided to tie the knot.
The ceremony took place in the place they met, home town Rosario, getting married at the City Centre in front of 260 guests.
