Lionel Messi marries childhood sweetheart in lavish wedding (2024)

Lionel Messi and Antonela Rocuzzo on their wedding day. Photo / Getty Images

Leo Messi, the world's greatest footballer, married his childhood sweetheart today in a lavish Argentinian ceremony.

More than 250 friends and family - including some of football's biggest stars - jetted to Argentina, to watch the sporting star, 30, marry Antonella Roccuzzo, 29, at the plush hotel complex as an alleged family feud threatened to overshadow the day.

The couple, who have known each other for some 25 years, banned mobile phones at the event. Staff were also sworn to secrecy and 450 police officers were drafted in for the big day, reported the Daily Mail.

The world's press lined a red carpet at the entrance of the hotel in Rosario. Guests chose whether they walked along it to be photographed and interviewed, or went through a discreet side entrance.

Samuel Eto'o was the first guest to walk along the red carpet and past the world's press, followed by Aguero and girlfriend Karina, Cesc Fabregas and fiance Daniella Seeman, Antonella's best friend, and Argentine national team player Ezequiel Lavezzi.

Barcelona teammate Neymar arrived on his own because, according to Argentinian media, he proposed to girlfriend Bruna Marquezine and she said no.

Women guests were reportedly encouraged to bring three dresses to to avoid clashes or repeats of clothes, or even colours and textures, while male guests were told to take three different types of shirts.

The wife of former Argentina and Manchester City defender Marin Demichelis, playboy model Evangelina Anderson, reportedly brought five dresses to make sure she her outfit wasn't similar to any of the other WAGS.

The occasion was briefly interrupted by a group of workers representing 600 people who had recently been sacked from Pepsico in the city, who took advantage of the media presence to protest with banners and chants.

Earlier in the day a group of window cleaners who live in the local area delivered a letter addressed to Messi, complaining that the security cordon meant they could not work on nearby houses and that they had lost a day's pay.

Meanwhile, one Messi superfan, a Brazilian called Alex who is also a Messi double, claimed he had come to Rosario to marry his wife at exactly the same time as the footballer, on a homemade altar on the pavement outside the hotel.

Local taxi company Easytaxi have also got into the Messi wedding mood, offering a 35 pesos discount to anyone who books a cab with the code LEOSECASA, or "Leo is getting married".

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There was one aspect which threatened to overshadow the Barcelona star's big day - claims in Argentina of tension between his close-knit family and the woman he fell in love with at the age of five.

Earlier an aunt of Messi's was caught out live on TV when an America TV channel called her to interview her about her nephew and she revealed bitterly that she hadn't been invited to the wedding.

When the woman found out she was live on air she hung up, and when the show called again she answered in tears, blamed Messi's 'horrible' mother Celia for being shafted from the ceremony.

She added that Celia had 'split up' the family, complaining that more relatives from her side of the family had received invites to the wedding than that of Messi's father Jorge.

A source close to the Messi family told MailOnline that relations between his family and fiancée Antonella Roccuzzo had also been strained for nearly seven years.

The friend said that while the two families might appear united during tonight's luxurious celebrations there have been tension in the past.

Messi and Antonella, who have two sons, chose to marry in their home town of Rosario, northern Argentina, where they grew up together.

The friend, who knew the Messi family before the footballer became famous and accompanied them on their first trips to Barcelona, said bad feelings first emerged in 2010, before the South Africa World Cup.

He said: "An Argentinian interviewer was talking to Messi's mum about her and her husband going over to South Africa to see Messi play.

"He mentioned that Antonella was already there, and she declared: 'Antonella, Antonella, who's Antonella?'

"It caused tension in the family, and Messi told his parents to stay in Argentina. The two families have struggled to be amicable since then."

The two families are staying apart at the same hotel during tonight's wedding celebrations, with the Messi family renting one floor and Antonella's family another, claimed respected news site ElIntransigente.com.

Argentina's Noticias website also reports that the family fell out with the bride to be.

But the Messi family dismissed reports of a feud between the families as 'nonsense'.

A friend of the star added: "The relationship between the families is really good, they get on really well and that's why they are getting married today.

"Claims that they it is not are absolutely false. Last night, for example, there was a co*cktail at the hotel where both families where having dinner together and talking to each other, laughing, making jokes."

Messi had reportedly wanted to have a big wedding in the majestic Catedral de Rosario in the historic centre of the city.

But after his father sacked the wedding planner claiming the nuptials were getting too expensive, and drastically cutting the list of guests, he had to look elsewhere.

The smaller Parroquia Nuestra Senora de las Nieves was also thought to be a possible church for the couple to marry in but for security reasons they decided against it, instead choosing the City Center Rosario, which was reportedly offered free of charge.

Determined to have a religious ceremony presided by a priest, Messi said he wanted to build a chapel inside the hotel complex, as in Argentina priests can only take weddings inside a church or chapel - but the city's Catholic church refused to allow the chapel to be built so close to a 'sinful' casino.

Messi did not have a religious ceremony and the civil proceedings were said to have lasted only 15 minutes.

The witnesses who signed the registry were Lionel and Antonella's brothers and sisters. Argentinian media have picked up on the fact that the number of the registry for Messi's marriage is 00077510 - ending with the number 10.

Like every couple getting married in the country, the couple paid the judge marrying them, Gonzalo Carrillo Herrera, the sum of 7000 pesos, or around £232.

Guests at the wedding will receive as their souvenir of the big day a bottle of Messi's own budget brand of wine - which sells for £16.

Those arriving at the City Center hotel complex in Rosario receive a box with a bottle of the L10 wine, as well as a small jar of dulce de leche caramel sauce, according to the TcSSports website.

A card in the box reads: "Welcome. Thank you for sharing with us this special moment. Leo and Anto."

Andres Beltramo, an Argentinian journalist based in Rome, tweeted a photo of the gift.

Meanwhile, accredited journalists arriving at the wedding venue have been told they will not be kept inside a small room and will not be allowed near the ceremony or guests, according to an Argentinian reporter for Gente magazine.

The reporters have been told that they will only be able to interview anyone at the wedding if any of the famous guests wants to give an interview and goes to the press room, only being let out at 10.30pm.

In Rosario, three rings of security have been placed around the City Center complex to ensure no unauthorised persons get close to the proceedings.

Residents say they are surprised at the 'budget' wedding of Rosario's most famous child, one of the world's wealthiest footballing stars.

They say that Messi moved the venue of the wedding to the City Center hotel on the scruffy outskirts of town after the owners offered the casino complex for free, while the family also managed to get many other items for free, such as Messi's mother's and sister's designer dresses.

On Thursday some of the world's most famous soccer stars arrived in Rosario aboard 12 private jets and with guaranteed VIP entrance into Rosario, few people noticed another private plane touch down in the town.

It is understood the plane was carrying the wedding dress - accompanied by two bodyguards - in which Antonella will walk down the aisle.

The dress, as well as two others the bride will wear during the night, was made by designer Rosa Clara, who has also dressed Eva Longoria, Sofia Vergara and the Queen of Spain.

Most of the WAGS attending the wedding have chosen the same designer.

Luis Suarez's wife Sofia Balbi, Sergio Busquet's partner Elena Galera, Jordi Alba's fiancée Roma Ventura and Xavi Herdandez's wife Nuria Cunillera will all be wearing Rosa Clara dresses for the occasion.

Messi was wearing an Armani suit and his mother and sister's dresses have been designed by Argentinian designer Claudio Cosano.

The footballer has requested that local hairdresser Dante Palavechino does his hair for the wedding.

Security is so tight around the venue, the City Center Rosario casino complex, that there will be nearly twice as many police officers as the 260 guests.

The Messis have also drafted in a private team of ex-Mossad security personnel who will be in charge of security at the event, while waiting staff have been told to be on standby to hear what roles they will play.

One bartender at the venue told MailOnline: "Nobody knows what will happen. They told us that we will only know what we will be doing a few minutes before the wedding starts.

"And they told us to come ready to sign a confidentiality agreement, and to leave our mobile phones at home."

The staff member also claimed that a mobile phone blocker had also been installed in the venue to prevent any of the guests, who will also sleep within the complex, sending or posting photos of proceedings.

To add to the sense of mystery, close friends of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner yesterday told Argentinian media the 'leaked menu' which showed that guests would dine on 'locro' stew, empanada pastries and sushi, was fake and perhaps even deliberately released to divert attention from what is really planned.

But while it seems that no expense has been spared for football's most anticipated wedding, it was revealed yesterday that the event was actually cut in size by Messi's thrifty father as costs spiralled.

Jorge Messi, who controls the footballer's finances, had hired Argentina's most famous wedding planner Barbara Diez, who also organised the wedding of Argentina's president Mauricio Macri, and she was working on an event with 600 guests at the Rosário's even plusher Hotel Puerto Norte.

But she was allegedly left 'furious' after Messi senior reportedly sacked her and hired an unknown wedding planner from Rosario, picking a cheaper venue and cutting the number of guests to 260.

The City Center Rosario, unlike Messi's previous choice, is in a poorer part of town and borders a neighborhood notorious for crime and known as the birthplace of the bloody drugs gang Los Monos.

The last minute change led to some guests, including Sergio Aguero and girlfriend Karina Tejeda, and Gerard Pique and Shakira, receiving invitations with the wrong venue and time - 10am, not 7pm - and the wrong RSVP email, according to reports.

The bridal lunch, which had been scheduled to take place in the local Country Funes Hill private condo outside of Rosario, was also reportedly cancelled by Jorge Messi over cost concerns.

But if the wedding had been downsized, few of those who will be enjoying the festivities tonight will notice.

Yesterday the first private jets touched down at Rosario's small airport carrying guests including Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Samuel Eto'o and Carlos Puyol.

One of the first arrivals, Jose Pinto, a close friend from Barcelona, posted a photo on Instagram yesterday afternoon of him with Messi and other friends in what appears to be a local cafe, in front of a table of food and drink, with the words: 'the gang back together'.

All of Messi's guests, which are expected to also include striker Neymar, Suarez, and PSG's Angel Di Maria, have been given VIP access to the town, meaning that if they prefer they do not have to pass through the airport terminal.

Recently municipal workers planted shrubs along the avenue in front of the hotel where the world's press will film the arrival of celebrities.

While 150 journalists from around the world have been accredited for the wedding by the event's organisers, they have been warned they will be kept in an enclosed area until 10.30pm and will have "totally prohibited access to the areas where the wedding will take place".

Once inside the hotel complex, guests can have their hair styled by one of 70 hairdressers who are on standby in three of the hotel's rooms.

There will also be a nanny service for children and entertainment while their parents watch the wedding ceremony.

Following the civil ceremony, Serio Aguero's wife, Karina, is expected to perform the song for the first dance of the ceremony, followed by Uruguayan pop bands Rombai and Marama who will keep guests entertained for the rest of the evening.

Guests will also have the chance to play in the on-site casino, bowling alley, grass tennis courts, and indoor and outdoor swimming pool as well as relax in a number of bars and restaurants within the complex.

But they won't have Messi for very long - he has reportedly asked for festivities to end by midnight as he will be catching a flight back to Barcelona at 4am on Saturday morning.

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