GhanaWeb Feature They say childhood sweetheart's affection is one of the purest forms of love as it is based on companionship rather than any worldly things and that appears to be the story between football great, Lionel Andre Messi and his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo. It was initially reported that 13-year-old Lionel Messi was reluctant to move from his country Argentina to Spain in 2000 because of his parents but it later came out that his childhood girlfriend Antonella was one of the main reasons why he didn't want to leave. Young Messi left his young life behind to pursue a career in Spain but within his heart, Antonella was a constant figure in his life through his days at the Barcelona academy. 9 years after leaving Argentina and breaking into Barcelona's first team, Lionel Messi officially confirmed that he is dating Antonella 2019, a year that he was at the top of his career after winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Born on February 26, 1988, in Rosario, Argentina, just like his husband, Antonella Roccuzzo is the cousin of Lucas Scaglia, who was Lionel Messi's teammate at Newell´s Old Boys. Per the accounts of some of Messi's teammates at Newell´s Old Boys, young and shy Lionel Messi initially was not confident to approach his crush so he resorted to regularly visiting Scaglia's family home just to get a chance to see her. Antonela attended the University of Rosario where she studied odontology and then switched to social communication before moving to Barcelona to join Lionel Messi permanently. After moving to join Messi, the couple stayed together for 9 years before finally deciding to tie the knot on June 30, 2017, at a ceremony in their hometown of Rosario. It was in that same year that Antonella partnered with Luiz Suarez's wife, Sofia Balbi to open their boutique shoe store in Barcelona in 2017. Antonella Roccuzzo and his husband Lionel Messi have given birth to three children namely Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro Messi. Check some of their photos below as put together by GhanaWeb. View this post on Instagram

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A post shared by Leo Messi (@leomessi) Author: Joel Eshun Watch the latest edition of GhanaWeb Mundial, Sports Debate and Sports Check below