Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo’s enduring relationship is often considered to be one of the most endearing relationships, not only in football, but in the entire world. At every step of Messi’s long and illustrious career, they couple have always been spotted together, right from the start of his football journey.
In a world where people do not hesitate to change partners like the seasons, their relationship is a testament to everything good about the human nature. Even if Antonela was Messi’s first and only love, that perhaps was not the case for the Argentine’s wife.
Who was Antonela Roccuzzo’s ex-lover before Lionel Messi?
Lionel Messi and his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo were introduced to each other by Luca Scaglia, Antonella’s cousin, when they were just nine years old. However, when Messi moved to Barcelona from Rosario at the inception of his career, they had to live apart from each other.
![Antonela Roccuzzo and Lionel Messi](https://www.sportszion.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SPORT-PREVIEW-Messi-Antonela-1024x683.webp)
As a result, the two had to stay away from each other for a long time. Reportedly, during this phase, Antonela Roccuzzo started seeing another guy in her native country. However, when Messi returned to Argentina a couple of years later, Antonela broke things off, and the two have been absolutely inseparable since then.
When asked about his relationship, the man, whose name was not revealed, said, “She dumped me, but at least she didn’t leave me for any old bloke – she dumped me for Messi.”
Antonela Roccuzzo-Lionel Messi relationship timeline
Lionel Messi and his wife Antonela Roccuzzo met and fell in love when they were children. They were introduced to each other at the age of nine by Antonella’s cousin, all the way back in 1996. By 2000 they had started seeing each other while Messi had signed for Barcelona’s academy at that point in time, and their relationship went on a brief hiatus. In 2009, they made their relationship public and got privately engaged in 2010.
![Antonella Roccuzzo](https://www.sportszion.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/xAntonella-1024x576.jpg.pagespeed.ic.oTMyLs2mug.jpg)
In 2012, they had their first son, Thiago Messi, in the month of November. Messi famously announces the news of his then-fiancée’s pregnancy at a football game, after he scored a goal against Ecuador. While celebrating his sporting victory, Messi tucked the ball under his shirt, emulating a baby bump. In April of 2015, Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo announced that they are expecting their second child, and by September, Mateo Messi was born.
The very next year, they got married in Rosario, the place where they first met and welcomed their third son, Ciro, into this world.
Currently living in Miami, Messi revealed earlier that his reason to pick Inter Miami over a move to Saudi Arabia was the fact that Inter Miami would be closer to the Latin roots him and his wife share.