The Argentine Lionel Messi has had a career that goes down in football history. With 35 titles won with FC Barcelona, seven Ballon d’Or awards and seven FIFA awards for best player, among other awards, “La Pulga”, as he is known, is considered by many to be the best player in the world. The current member of Inter Miami has millions of fans. But, if you are a woman and one of his admirers, you should know that if one day you meet him, chances are that you will not be able to give him a hug and he will pose a little apart from you if you ask him for a photo. Messi avoids contact with women other than his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, as much as possible. Here we tell you everything that is known about his position.
Since kids
The love story of this famous couple seems straight out of a romantic movie. They were both born in the same Argentine city, Rosario, he in 1987 and she in 1988. They met when they were just 9 years old thanks to the fact that the future soccer star was a friend of Lucas Scaglia, Antonela’s cousin. Lucas invited Lionel to a family trip and there he met the girl. He fell in love with her and they kept in touch with her by sending each other letters from her. However, when Lionel turned 13, he was called up to train and play in the youth division of FC Barcelona, in Spain. It was an opportunity that he could not pass up and he left with his father, leaving behind his innocent courtship with Antonela, who finished her high school studies and began studying Dental Medicine and Social Communication at the National University of Rosario.
Reunion
Although Lionel and Antonela maintained contact, the distance had made them think that it was best to forget any romantic intentions and limit themselves to being friends. However, on May 22, 2005, the then 16-year-old girl suffered a tragic loss: her best friend, Ursula Notz, died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. When Lionel found out about her, he did not hesitate to take a plane and return to her hometown in Argentina to accompany her. This brought them together and they began a long-distance relationship, since he had to return to Spain. The couple managed to keep everything a secret until 2009, when the then 21-year-old footballer had already become a star and the media began to speculate about his love life. Messi revealed that he had a girlfriend in Argentina, although it was not until 2010 that his identity was publicly known.
consolidated love
By 2012, Antonela had already finished her studies and had moved permanently to Spain to accompany her partner. That year they welcomed her first child, Thiago, and in 2015 Mateo, her second child. In 2017 they finally decided to formalize their union and celebrated what many media continue to call “The wedding of the century” in Argentina. The event had 260 guests, including the Colombian singer Shakira and her then partner, the Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué, and 150 journalists were given accreditation to partially cover it. In addition, Messi fans gathered outside the hotel where the party was held in an attempt to see the couple and the famous guests. A year after the wedding, the now husband and wife had their third and, until now, last child: Ciro.
Controversy
Messi and Roccuzzo are known for doing everything possible to keep most of their private lives out of the public eye. However, it was recently learned that in 2013, when their first child was barely 8 months old, the couple went through a bad time due to some photographs in which the footballer supposedly appeared in compromising poses with a blonde Russian model, while They were at Brazilian player Ronaldo’s birthday party in Las Vegas, United States. Some sources claim that everything was a confusion and it was another man similar to Messi, but others say that it was the Argentine star and that the bad behavior was due to alcohol consumption. The truth is that, since then, Lionel has taken measures so that Antonela does not go through similar anguish again.
From afar, please
“La Pulga” has made it clear that the love he feels for his wife is unbreakable. “She is everything to me… a spectacular partner,” he said in an interview. Therefore, he points out that anything that involves any type of intimacy is reserved only for her. Aware that his status as a soccer superstar earns him a legion of female admirers, Messi takes action and makes sure that every time someone approaches him to greet him or ask for a photo, he keeps his hands inside his pockets or at his sides, and at no time does he offer hugs. And this distance applies even in the virtual sphere. When Suzy Cortez, a Brazilian model and influencer, declared her fanaticism for Messi by getting a tattoo in her honor and taking quite provocative photos wearing her shirt, he simply blocked her. The player wants to make it clear that he only has eyes for Antonela and that he will not do anything to endanger his family.