Getty Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo
Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi’s wife and childhood sweetheart, Antonela Roccuzzo has shared touching video featuring clips of the couple’s wedding to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary.
The childhood sweethearts tied the knot on 30 June 2017 at a ceremony in Messi’s hometown of Rosario, Argentina. Antonela has shared some footage of the special day along with a message dedicated to her husband on social media. She wrote on Instagram, “Happy anniversary love. 4 years to this day. Here’s to many more together. I love you Leo Messi.”
The video proved hugely popular and had been viewed more than 1.3 million times within just two hours of posting.
Messi is currently away from his family with the Argentina squad for the Copa America which is being played in Brazil. Argentina has qualified for the quarter-finals and will play Ecuador on Saturday for a place in the last four.
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Messi Family Key To Future Decision
The future of Messi is currently the subject of intense speculation with the Barcelona captain set to become a free agent on Thursday as he is yet to extend his contract with the Catalan giants.
Yet Barcelona president Joan Laporta remains confident the 34-year-old will renew his deal as a “loose agreement is in place,” according to Moises Llorens and Sam Marsden at ESPN.
Messi asked to leave last year after becoming unhappy under former president Josep Maria Bartomeu and had been linked with moves to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
However, a move away from Barcelona now looks unlikely, and the captain’s family may have played a role in his decision. Cadena SER journalist Jose Antonio Ponseti reported that Messi’s family made it clear they would stay in Barcelona and not move abroad if the Argentine had decided to switch clubs, as reported by Le10Sport.
Messi Talks Family Life
Messi had already admitted how his desire to leave Barcelona last summer upset his children. He told Goal’s Ruben Uria in an interview in September 2020 that his decision had not gone down well.
“When I communicated my wish to leave to my wife and children, it was a brutal drama,” he said. “The whole family began crying, my children did not want to leave Barcelona, nor did they want to change schools.”
The Barcelona captain has also opened up on family life more recently in an interview with Diario Ole where he offered some insight into his life as a father to sons Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro.
“They’re everything, everything,” he said. “I’m lucky to be able to share things with them, because there are many fathers that have to go out and work all day and they don’t arrive home until nine at night, dead, like I saw with mine. I saw little of him. I’m lucky enough to spend practically the whole day with them, to be able to take them to school, take them to football and to other activities and I love it.”
Messi’s new contract is expected to keep the Barcelona captain and his family at the club for another two seasons. The deal would then see the forward head out to play in Major League Soccer and work as an ambassador for the club in the United States.
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