Lionel Messi has hundreds of millions of fans all over the planet. After the 2022 World Cup, even people who have little interest in football will join the ranks of La Pulga fans. It all comes from a photo of the World Cup champion giving the Gold Cup to his wife, then taking out his phone, trying to find the best angle to take the photo to please his wife. That moment made everyone realize that the greatest player in history with 7 Golden Ball winners is still… a few steps below his wife.

Looking back, I see that this is not strange. From the moment he started pursuing his football dream, that’s when he learned about Antonela Rocuzzo. In the words of coach Arsene Wenger, Messi “worships football like people worship God” and also worships Antonela in the same way.

The story begins when Messi was 9 years old and practicing football at Newell’s Old Boys youth team. He thought there was nothing greater than his love for football, until one day he went to his friend Lucas Scaglia’s house to play video games. Coincidentally, 10-year-old Antonela, daughter of the owner of a supermarket chain in Rosario, was also there. The moment she stepped down from upstairs, a “thunderbolt” struck Messi’s heart. Since that fateful meeting, there hasn’t been a day when Messi hasn’t found an excuse to go to Scaglia’s house hoping to meet Antonela.

Lionel Messi and Antonela when they first fell in love

One time after practice, coach Enrique Dominguez saw that Messi was unusually agile. While the other children were still hesitating in the locker room, he took a shower, changed into clean clothes and waited nervously outside the door. Coach Enrique Dominguez asked Scaglia’s father: “Hey, what are you waiting for, little Leo?” “Ah, he’s waiting to go to my house,” Scaglia’s father replied. Not satisfied with the answer, the teacher asked again: “I’m not surprised that he often comes to your house, the problem is why is he so restless today?”. “It’s the weekend, Antonela will come and stay for the next 2 days. Leo likes that girl,” Scaglia’s father explained.

We still know that Messi is very shy and withdrawn to the point of being almost autistic. His brother called him “La Pulga – The Flea” because of his small body due to growth hormone deficiency, but his teammates in the locker room nicknamed him “the invisible man” or “the dumb guy”. Until he became an adult, Messi remained no different, quietly going to the practice field, then quietly stuffing the ball into the trunk of his car and then going home at the end of the session.

However, when it comes to love, Messi is unusually bold. Friends often tease Messi because of his silly appearance every time Antonela appears. He could groom himself, dress nicely, and look at himself many times in the mirror and then go to the neighborhood dance just to see Antonela.

When he got home, he immediately wrote a letter confessing his love. In it, he wrote “admiring Antonela’s chestnut hair or pomegranate dress”, expressed his wish that “one day we will get married” and then filled in the name “Antonela Rocuzzo” as the recipient.

Messi took a photo of his wife with the World Gold Cup

Unfortunately, before Messi could receive an answer, he had to leave Rosario. Medical bills for growth hormone deficiency are a burden for Messi’s family. They could not find support from Newell’s Old Boys and had to go to Barcelona. Initially, nothing was certain, so Messi’s family did not notify anyone. For a few years, no one knew where Messi had gone.

While Messi worked hard to convince Barca to sign a contract, then became a phenomenon on the field, Antonela also developed a love affair with a friend in Rosario. From 10,000 kilometers away, Messi was still watching. He knew this friend, knew Antonela was studying at the Latin American Education Center as well as their 3-year love.

Unfortunately, Antonela’s boyfriend died in a traffic accident. Antonela falls into crisis. Hearing the news, Messi rushed back to Argentina to comfort his old girlfriend.

Then Messi returned to Barca, officially played his debut match and became known to the whole world. At the same time, Antonela began studying Social Communication at Rosario National University, after 6 months of studying Dentistry. The two’s relationship also gradually progressed. Despite the geographical distance, the feelings between them are shortening day by day.

“Everyone is proud of you, world champion. Thank you for teaching me and my children to never give up. I fought to the end, endured many years to get what I wanted,” Antonela wrote after Messi won the 2022 World Cup.

During the Hat Trick Barca program on Catalan TV channel TV3 in 2009, when asked if he had a girlfriend, Messi replied, “I do, and she is in Argentina.”

Before the 2010 World Cup, Messi and Antonela officially announced their love. That was also when Antonela moved to Barcelona to live with Leo. 2 years later, in the match against Ecuador in Buenos Aires, Messi scored to increase the score to 3-0 from a pass from Gonzalo Higuain. After an exciting celebration with his teammates, Messi signaled for the ball from a ballboy and stuffed it into his shirt to pretend to have a pregnant belly.

At that moment, Messi felt like the happiest man in the world when he was about to become a father. In November 2012, 3 months before receiving his 4th Golden Ball, Messi welcomed his first son Thiago. Then in September 2015, eight months after winning his fifth Golden Ball, Messi’s second son, Mateo, was born.

In June 2017, Messi officially married Antonela at the Rosario Downtown building and Pullman hotel, not far from where they both grew up. Their love entered a new, more romantic and happier chapter with the arrival of Ciro, their third son born 1 year before he received his 6th Golden Ball.

I don’t know if it’s because of the two parallel loves between Antonela and football, but Messi’s wife doesn’t like to talk about football at home. “She doesn’t care if she scores a double or a hat-trick,” Messi said. However, Antonela is always by his side, worried, miserable or happy with ups and downs.

At the 2022 World Cup, after Argentina’s shocking defeat to Saudi Arabia in the opening match, Messi revealed that Antonela and her children calculated all night “what my team has to do, how many points it needs to pass the group stage.” ”.

So when he became world champion, Messi said, the achievement was created by his teammates, fans and family. For him, making them happy is the greatest thing, but he doesn’t fight to become a great player.