Biography
Antonella Roccuzzo is the wife of the forward of the Spanish football club Barcelona, Lionel Messi. The wedding took place on June 30, 2020, after 9 years of marriage and the birth of two children.
Antonella Roccuzzo and Lionel Messi
Antonella was born on February 26, 1988 in the city of Rosario in the Argentine province of Santa Fe in a working-class family. Roccuzzo and Messi were family friends, and the girl’s brother was a childhood friend of the future champion Lionel. At the age of 5, Messi began playing in the children's football team "Grandolini", which the boy's father, a simple worker, coached in his spare time. At the age of 10, Lionel moved to the city club Newell's Old Boys, where he studied until he was 13 years old.
Lionel Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo in childhood
Since the young man was diagnosed with a rare disease caused by a lack of growth hormone, he needed expensive treatment. There was no such money in the family and hometown, and the father decided to go with his son across the ocean and assign the talented Lionel to the Barcelona club in exchange for providing treatment.
Antonella Roccuzzo in a swimsuit
The president of the academy, Carles Rexach, recognized the boy's talent and agreed to pay the costs of medical services. So in 2000, Lionel left his homeland and became a member of the club’s youth team. In the first match, Messi brought 4 goals to the Spaniards. In gratitude for saving his life, Lionel never left the club. Only in 2011 did he lead the Argentina national team.
Antonella Roccuzzo in her youth
Antonella at this time managed to finish school and train as a nutritionist. After graduating from university, the girl went to work at a local fitness club. Antonella led a modest lifestyle without attending fashionable parties. The girl also did not use her own external data to earn money as a fashion model. The biography of the miniature, slender Argentinean (height – 164 cm, weight – 50 kg) could have remained unknown to the whole world if not for the love story between her and the highest paid football player of our time.
The most important match
Jorge Messi will call the wedding his son's most important match. It took place in Rosario, and all the world's tabloids wrote about it. This year, on June 30, the couple will celebrate their anniversary.
It was all organized throughout the entire class: the best hotel, a red carpet, hundreds of journalists and many guests, including football stars. It was described as the wedding of the century: the bride wore a designer dress worth several hundred thousand dollars. It is known that the wedding masterpiece is made from antique French handmade lace, embroidered with beads and with a luxurious train. Antonella was charming in it.
All residents of the small town could watch the ceremony: a huge crane was installed on the main square for broadcasting.
Instagram exploded with photos posted not only by professional photographers, but also by famous guests. Shakira and her husband, Barcelona defender Pique, put an end to the gossip about their conflict with her fiance. The singer and producer is also a young mother and they are friends with Antonella, which is confirmed by their joint photos on Instagram. Among her friends are the wives and other football players from Barca: Suarez, Alba and Busquets. They all shared their impressions and published photos on social networks from the celebration.
For the evening dinner, Antonella changed into a light dress richly trimmed with precious stones, with a neckline and a slit in the skirt. It is noteworthy that the couple refused gifts. They were replaced by generous donations to the Leo Messi Foundation.
The philanthropist helps children with serious diseases, including rare ones, such as growth hormone deficiency. Expensive treatment once helped Messi stay in the team and become a football star. He is several centimeters taller than his beloved wife (her height is 164 cm). At least they look very decent together. And about the wedding dance, the video of which was posted on the Internet, idle tongues said that Leo was a useless dancer, he scored goals much better. Antonella hardly felt it - in the footage she looks like the happiest bride.
Personal life
In the mid-2000s, the modest Argentinean Messi officially dated only two girls, his compatriots: Playboy model Luciana Salazar and Macarena Lemos. In 2008, Messi abandoned his past hobbies and began dating his childhood friend Antonella. The footballer announced his choice at the beginning of 2009, when he took the girl with him to Spain.
Antonella Roccuzzo and Lionel Messi in 2009
According to reviews from others, Antonella had a beneficial effect not only on the football player’s psychological state and his character, but also became the reason for Lionel’s new victories. The couple almost never separated, the young people spent all their free time together or with close friends - with football player Cesc Fabregas and his wife Daniella Semaan, as well as with Gerard Pique and Shakira.
Antonella Roccuzzo, Shakira and Daniella Semaan
At the beginning of 2012, Messi learned that Antonella was expecting a child. His wife's pregnancy made an impression on Lionel. The young man could not contain his emotions and shared the news with the fans in a unique way: at a qualifying match for the World Cup, after scoring a goal for the Argentina national team, Messi put the ball under his shirt, pretending to be pregnant.
Antonella Roccuzzo and Lionel Messi
On November 2, 2012, the long-awaited first-born, Thiago, appeared. The father tried not to leave the baby for a minute, devoting all his free time to the child. Messi got a tattoo of his son's name on his left leg. Lionel shows care not only towards his loved ones. Messi is involved in charity work and helps young children fight serious illnesses. For this purpose, the football player organized the Fundación Leo Messi charity foundation.
Antonella Roccuzzo and Lionel Messi with children
In 2020, on his Instagram page, Messi announced his wife’s second pregnancy, posting a photo of Antonella and his eldest son kissing his mother’s rounded belly with the caption: “We are waiting for you, baby! We love you!" Mateo Messi's second son was born on September 11, 2015 in Barcelona.
Antonella Roccuzzo and Lionel Messi
2020 was not without provocations. Playboy magazine star Rocío Marengo announced on the Beat FM radio show that the Argentine football player number 10 had offered to date her, to which the girl refused. Having named the serial number, the model hinted at the name of Lionel Messi, after which Roccuzzo announced to the media that she would sue for libel. Rocio Marengo immediately replied to Antonella that she did not mean the Argentine striker, but another football player.
Start
The famous football player, Barcelona striker and captain of the Argentina national team, who has won dozens of titles, cups and other awards, and who receives only positive reviews from football gurus, has always been modest and shy. It is he who shows character on the field, the ability to go ahead, achieve results, but in life he will not conflict, prove or cut from the shoulder. Over the years, the habits that had developed, the established way of life, and attachments were supposed to serve only one and the main thing - his talent.
Family and friends supported and helped him in everything, tried to pamper and please him. His mother knew what dish to prepare for him, his brothers knew how to entertain him, his father was completely immersed in his affairs and replaced his agents, and his younger sister simply allowed herself to be adored. Leo often came home for the holidays, and later tried to get out to his family in any free time.
Fame in his homeland came to him at the age of 18, after winning the World Youth Championship. “Messemania” swept Europe, everyone dreamed of getting his autograph, the press wrote about him as an international star. He often ran away to his family, where he could hide like in a fortress from the annoying paparazzi. He was indifferent to fame, although he admitted that as a player it was always nice to receive good reviews.
Antonella did not bite her elbows, did not cry into her pillow because she missed such a guy. She put on shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers and went to the gym to maintain the natural beauty of her body. She also attended a local university, studying physiotherapy, dentistry and social communication. Of course, such a girl was not alone, she was dating a guy whose name she never mentioned. But for so many years he never showed himself.
She appeared in Leo’s life in 2007, when he was 20 years old, he had already made the football world talk about himself and was preparing for his victorious Olympics in Beijing as part of the Argentina national team.
It was rumored that they went on vacation together, and soon she moved to his house near Barcelona. Leo spoke about it in an interview with a Spanish sports TV channel. It was just one sentence answer to a question about his personal life. The naturally taciturn striker said that he has a girlfriend, she is Argentinean and he is happy with her. Reporters immediately rushed to collect information about the football star's passion and looked for incriminating evidence, but these searches led to nothing. The girl was from a decent family, was friends with the law and did not have a scandalous reputation.
Antonella Roccuzzo now
On June 30, the long-awaited wedding of Antonella Roccuzzo and Lionel Messi took place in the lovers’ hometown of Rosario. The young people decided to celebrate the celebration in the quarter where Lionel was born. The place is considered crime-prone, and the hotel where the event took place was reinforced with 200 security guards. Since among the 260 guests there were famous football players who had flown in from Europe, an additional 300 police officers were stationed along the road to the airport.
Wedding of Lionel Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo
The city administration tried to create for the famous compatriot all the conditions for a peaceful holding of such a significant event. For a week, the neighborhood was cleared of excess debris and national flags were installed. For Messi fans, they equipped a special area with a large screen, on which there was an online broadcast of the football player’s wedding.
On the eve of the wedding, athletes Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Carles Puyol, Xavi, Samuel Eto'o, Cesc Fabregas, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero arrived in Rosario with their significant other.
Antonella’s friend, singer Shakira and her husband Gerard Pique also arrived. The newlyweds said that instead of wedding gifts, they are only expecting donations to Messi's charitable foundation.
The ceremony began at 7 pm. Lionel, Antonella and their first-born Thiago approached the altar to register their relationship. Both spouses had the wedding date engraved on their ring fingers in advance in Latin numerals: XXX-VI-XVII. After the ceremony, a photo of the hands of the bride and groom appeared on Messi's Facebook page. The wedding dress by fashion designer Rosa Clara, whose outfits are worn by Eva Longoria and the Spanish Queen Letizia, was delivered for Antonella from Barcelona.
Antonella Roccuzzo's family in 2020
After the ceremony, the couple walked along the red carpet to the center of the hall and performed their first dance. Now there is a discussion on the Internet about a video of the dancing couple Messi and Roccuzzo, which shows that the football player is much worse at dancing than scoring goals.
Continuation
In an interview with the Spanish TV channel Blic, the father of two children once said that he experiences an incredible feeling from communicating with children; fatherhood has changed him. He believes that this is the best thing that happened in his life.
Antonella is proud of him: he turned out to be no worse a parent than a football player. They spend a lot of time with children and rarely appear at parties. But when Leo is presented with another well-deserved award, his family is with him. This is their common victory and Messi always emphasizes this in his acceptance speech.
And this year the couple had a third son, he was named Ciro. Moreover, his parents chose the name long before his birth. Leo posted a video of the baby for the first time in April. In the photo he is only a month old, you can hardly see his face, but you can clearly see that he sleeps well in the arms of six-year-old Thiago. After all, those who love him are nearby: mom, dad and brothers.
If the couple follows in the footsteps of Messi's parents, the next one will be a girl. At the very least, they are definitely not going to stop having children. Colleagues joke that in a little more time one of the world’s best football players will be able to coach his own team. He doesn’t mind having a big family, because Antonella is the woman who can easily create an atmosphere of happiness and homeliness, which is what Leo has always dreamed of. After all, almost half of his life was spent away from home and consisted of training camps, training and trips to championships. Now his life has found balance: loud victories and quiet family happiness.
It is not for nothing that their couple is considered one of the quietest and happiest couples in football. They never part. Antonella and her children come to all the matches of the father of the family; you can find pictures on social networks where they are all on the field together. On her Instagram wanderer there is no one except her beloved boys and Hulk, a French mastiff, a huge red dog. He is Leo’s gift in 2020, but Antonella cherishes him no less than her children and husband.
Sometimes, though, she shows her friends - the wives of football players. They, like their husbands, are from the same team: beloved and loving wives, mothers and successful women.
In the 2018 ranking of the most influential life partners of famous players, they are all together. Antonella was included in the top ten according to Cosmopolitan magazine, which compiled this rating. But for her, this is far from the first time she has been included in the list of the very best. She has already been recognized as one of the most beautiful and stylish wives of the highest paid players in world football. The recognition of the public is pleasant for both of them, although in life Antonella does not strive to dress up. On the contrary, her usual clothes consist, as many years ago, of a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. True, she is still partial to shoes, and has long been thinking about opening her own boutique.
Last year, her dream came true: on the eve of her wedding in Barcelona, she opened a shoe store selling a whole line of products from the Argentine company Ricky Sarkany. It became the first sign in Europe from the famous Argentine brand. Her friend Sofia Balbi became the co-owner of the shoe boutique. But the priorities of the football players’ wives have not changed; they still do not miss a single match with the participation of Barcelona players. Antonella recently posted a photo of herself and her children cheering for the Argentina national team, where her husband distinguished himself again. And Leo shared a video of his children singing the national anthem while hitting the ball.
Touching traditions
Football players usually share the news about the upcoming addition to the family in an original way. During the celebration of a goal, the expectant father puts the ball under his T-shirt, thereby simulating pregnancy. Lionel Messi did the same. The wife gave birth to Tiago in one of the clinics in Barcelona. The birth was successful, and the happy parents were in seventh heaven. In honor of this joyful event, Lionel Messi got a tattoo... on his left leg. This is probably how the father predicts a football career for his son.
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