Messi & Antonela: What No One Saw Behind the Perfect Couple –  Hw

How can a couple who have known each other since childhood survive the moment when he becomes the best footballer in the world?  That’s exactly what happened to Lionel Messi and Antonel Rocuso.  While he was scoring more and more goals, winning tournaments, golden balls and millions of dollars, Antonela was building and sustaining the most private part of their lives, the home, the routine and the creation of their children.

But along with the success came comparisons, the pressure of living under the world’s gaze, and even rumors of Messi flirting with other women or scandal over  Antonela’s alleged uncontrollable jealousy.  However, almost two decades later they still seem like one of the most normal, family-oriented and down-to-earth couples in the world of celebrities.

How did they get it to work?  What did each one have to contribute and what did they have to give up?  And how they managed to build a life around such extraordinary fame is what we’ll see in this video.  Everything about Messi and Antonela from the beginning of their relationship to the crises, controversies and the new stage they are currently going through, which without a doubt is one of the most admired relationships in the world.

But once you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that it wasn’t always a bed of roses. Loving Lionel while he became Messi. It was in January 2009, when Messi was 22 years old, that he confirmed for the first time that he had a girlfriend.  By then he was already playing in Barcelona’s starting lineup, he was already one of the club’s biggest stars and when Catalan television asked him about his relationship status, he said, “I have a girlfriend, she’s living in Argentina, I’m fine and relaxed.

”  Shortly afterwards, the first photograph of them walking hand in hand during the Sidges carnival appeared, and the media quickly identified the mysterious young woman as 21-year-old Argentinian Antonela Rocuso .  But at that time they were in a long-distance relationship.  She was still living in Argentina and he was settled in Barcelona.

Messi took advantage of trips to his country to see her, but most of the time it was Antonela who traveled to Spain to be with him.  And after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, they both decided it was time for Antonela to move permanently to Barcelona.  She had studied social communication for a year and then switched to dentistry, but she left her career unfinished to start a life with Messi.

Antonela was abandoning practically everything she knew: her family, her sisters, her friends, and the environment in which she had grown up.  And in 2025 she told Bog, ” Leaving such a small house was complicated.”  And besides, at that time there wasn’t the connection that there is now.  Without my family and friends, everything was new.

I knew nothing about other customs. Furthermore, we lived in the middle of a mountain.  I don’t know, I think it was either grow up or grow up and make a living.  To understand everything, we have to see that they both share the same origin, the city of Rosario.  They met when they were around 6 years old through Antonela’s cousin, Lucas Esaglia, who was a soccer player and Lionel’s teammate.

And Messi has said that he liked her ever since .  I started playing in New, I don’t remember if it was 6 or 7 years old, when I was very little.  That’s how I became very good friends with de Luca, who is de Anto’s cousin and is one of my best friends for life. And that’s it, I would go to his house, like I do a lot, to eat, I started staying overnight at his house and I went there a lot , and that’s where I met her, we’ve known each other since we were very little and we always liked each other, to put it nicely, and when I was

very young I was in love with friends and that’s why there has been a lot of talk about a supposed love letter that Messi wrote to Antonela at that time where he told her that one day she would be his girlfriend.  But before we delve in, I want to thank Odu for making this video possible. Although you only see a simple YouTube video here, behind a channel like this there are a lot of things: payments, invoices, a lot of organization, just like in any business.

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But they also have VIP tickets that, in addition to the benefits of the free ticket, also give access to an exclusive lounge and the afterparty, where they will have dinner, drinks and live music.  As you can see, you can’t miss it, so I’m leaving the link below so you can hurry and register and experience this with Odu.

Meanwhile, Lionel was beginning to stand out as one of the great promises of football.  In 2000, when he was 13, his family moved with him to Barcelona so that he could train at the club, and the club would also cover his expensive growth hormone treatment because he needed injections every day, as his body did not produce it as required naturally.

So, in order to pursue this future that seemed quite extraordinary, Messi had to separate himself from his roots, and his friendship with Antonela practically died out at once .  Communication facilities as they are today did not exist , and international calls were extremely expensive, but Messi never stopped visiting Rosario.

And in this interview that I showed you, he also says that in 2005, when they were about 18 years old, he reconnected with his friend Lucas and that’s when he saw Antonela again.  It has been said that Antonela was having a great time when a friend of hers was hit by a drunk guy as she left a nightclub, and that Messi got even closer to Antonela to keep her company.

This has not been verified by them, but what we definitely know is that they resumed their friendship. There was another way. At that time there was Messenger, which [laughs] we used to chat about. Well, the emails were more frequent and , well, we got closer again, we hadn’t lost that feeling we had as kids, nothing had changed.

I liked that last part nothing had changed.  It’s like when you feel a connection with a person, and even if years go by and you stop seeing them and then you see them again , you feel the same with that familiarity, that trust.  But at that time, Antonela had been in another relationship for approximately 3 years and not much is known about that boyfriend because neither Messi nor Antonela have touched on that subject.

But an anonymous source told the nation that the young man ended up taking it with humor. She said, “At least she didn’t leave me for just anyone, she left me for Messi.”  And I think that seeing it this way helps you not to feel so bad.  He’s supposedly the guy in these photos who looks quite handsome, to be honest, so on social media this has been used a lot to attack Tonela for having left her boyfriend for Messi, who had an extraordinary future, he was already a star, but in reality we don’t know the details of what her relationship with that boyfriend was like,

why they broke up.  And in the end , Messi was the boy I had known since I was 6 years old, the one I had been very close friends with before my success.  And Messi had also tried something with a young model named Macarena Lemons.  It was in 2005-2006 when he was already 18 and she was only 14.

On one occasion, Leonel returned to Rosario to recover from an injury and met her father because he approached him to ask for an autograph.  He told her that he had a model daughter and wanted to meet her, something that Messi gladly accepted.  Both were wrong here because she was very little.  But it must be made clear that Macarena has said that there was never any intimate contact or anything like that between them, that it was all very flirtatious, that they only met twice, and that was because Messi invited her family and his own family to

eat a barbecue so they could get to know each other. Macarena also said that Leonel asked her to wait for him to return from the 2006 World Cup in Germany, that he would be back for her birthday.  She calls him her first boyfriend because they communicated via chat if there was this kind of flirting, but it was never a formal relationship.

She says they weren’t a couple or anything and that in the end they drifted apart because of the age difference and the long-distance relationship, so by 2007 both Antonela and Messi were single and began to communicate more and more.   They eventually formalized their relationship and in 2010 she moved to Barcelona.

And although the public and the media knew about Messi’s relationship with Antonela, they were rarely seen together .  Sometimes they would walk on the beach or share vacation photos together, like this one that I find super cute, where both Delfín and Antonela are kissing Messi.  And then we have the other part where El Delfín and Messi are kissing her, which today, seeing those photos, makes us believe in love, that true and lasting love does exist, that it can do anything, and of course it can , but also the day-to-day life of a relationship is much more complicated than it

seems, especially during the initial stages, because courtship , the first stage of a relationship, is often romanticized, but in reality there are also many insecurities and it has n’t been formed as that path. That stability, getting used to each other’s personalities, really getting to know each other, and that brings difficulties, which seems to have happened to them as well.

Messi himself has admitted that at the beginning of the relationship he was quite jealous. Lionel Messi is jealous. No, not really now.  Yes, when I was younger, more of a kid, I was jealous, but then I couldn’t be for a while now.  I was around back in the day, but it’s been a while since then. [laughs] What would make you jealous, for example? No, I don’t remember.

I don’t remember, but I do remember that he was quite jealous.  [laughs] More or less when was that? Not when I was young, when we were dating at the beginning, then not anymore. And this is where the uncomfortable contradiction comes in , because I don’t know if you’ve heard the phrase, a man is as faithful as his choices, which shouldn’t be generalized because not all men are faithful in all circumstances, but this type of saying or phrase also comes from experiences and has some truth to it.

And just think about what it would be like for a man who, while building a relationship, also begins to receive unlimited attention from women.  Messi was in a particularly dangerous stage because at the time he formalized his relationship with Antonela, when they moved in together, and when she became pregnant and they had their first son Thiago, who was born on November 2, 2012, he also went from being one of Barcelona’s great promises to a global icon.

Admired by millions, desired by countless women who wouldn’t have noticed the shy boy from Rosario, but would have noticed Messi, number 10. And it’s interesting because Antonela represents a woman who might have been with Lionel, even if he had never become a superstar. Given their shared history, they might have fallen in love and started a family, but women began to appear around Messi who represented the other side of the coin, those who started to notice him precisely because of his success, fame, money, and power.  And there are

several indications that during those years Messi was still figuring out what to do with these opportunities that were being presented to him.  For example, the Argentine model and actress Luciana Salazar said that in 2009 she went to dinner with Messi once and made it clear that there was never a romance between them.

And his friends Marcelo Polino and Flavio Mendoza, years later, gave more details about this closeness and said that they sent many messages.  According to them, it was during a crisis that Leo and Antonela were going through that he connected with Luciana, but they said that Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father, had intervened, realized it and changed his son’s phone numbers.

But this is only based on the testimonies of both Luciana and her friends.  Nothing has been proven, there are no messages, and Messi has not spoken about the issue either.  So it could just be a rumor, but what there are not only messages about, but even a video, is a video chat he had with the Argentine actress Sabrina Ravelli in 2011.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that this video is fake or has been taken out of context, but Sabrina said that it was real and that a friend had recorded it because she couldn’t believe she was talking to Messi.  The video shows details of Messi looking very happy chatting with her, and the part of the messages, to be honest, isn’t very clear, but there is one that you can see where he’s laughing and laughing and then he tells her, “Take a little walk, I’m leaving.

”  Stop talking nonsense like asking me to show you my body. Sabrina told this article that they communicated constantly via Messenger and that Messi would say things like, “How ‘s the prettiest girl?”  And that he would send her flirty messages, even when he knew she had a boyfriend, the singer Daniel Guardia.

But she did make it clear that there was never anything physical between them and that she only wanted to be friends with him and get free tickets to the games. Messi has also not spoken about this supposed friendship with Sabrina or about that video call.  These rumors didn’t really generate much noise, but there was one that became world news.

Even I remember seeing the photographs in the checkout line at the supermarket in my city.  It was in 2013 when a magazine published several photos of Messi in a Las Vegas nightclub where he was seen very close to a stripper.  In one of the images, his head is very close to her chest looking at the camera, and in another looking in another direction, let’s say, in another talking to her, and there is another where he is standing there alone in the club.

The images were published by the Argentine magazine soon after, and what made this situation even more painful was that only a few months had passed since the birth of her son Tiago. But immediately after publication, major questions arose about the authenticity of these photographs.  Photographer Miguel Morenati claimed it was all a Photoshop setup, that they had taken the photos from this Hola magazine session where he is holding his baby and put the woman on top of him.  For example, in this one it says that the

baby’s head can still be seen there in their arms as if they hadn’t even bothered to remove it.  And in this one, he says it’s the same haircut, same pose, and same beard as the magazine photo.  And at that time, in 2013, this created a great debate. Who was telling the truth?  If the magazine, the photographer, the public, because many of Messi’s fans, of course, dismissed all of this as false, agreeing with the photographer.

But the director and the chief photographer suddenly went on a program to defend themselves, claiming that the photos were real. The photo was taken with an iPhone 5. These photos were sent from a person in London.  Of course, the photos were taken in Las Vegas, went to an agency in London, and from there they arrived here.

From there they went to an agency, the scoop is There is only one photo that proves that it is not faked, which is the photo where he has a mirror behind him. That is impossible to generate.  The image of Messi with the woman, the one they showed earlier.  With that, you know that you can’t generate that, you can’t create it.

Which one is this? Show it and that’s it.  And the argument ended.  There’s a mirror in the back that shows your head.  And there I also added up the photo and that’s what made me doubt the most what the magazine director says, because it doesn’t match.  In the mirror Messi appears to be standing and turning to one side, and in the one opposite Messi is sitting down, so the woman is a vampire because she cannot see herself in the mirror.

So the magazine’s strong defense, I think, ended up being its weakest point.  Okay, so let’s not argue about whether it was your c or not .  real photos.  What I’m saying is, uh, what I think is that in this case, if you look at that photo, there’s a photo that ‘s more striking than the one where he’s alone, right?  The one who is alone, who is lost in nothingness.

Show the sequence.  Mostr left at the party.   Let’s see what I can grab. There is a photo.  Look, look at that photo.  That photo is incredible.  He sees the blonde arriving.  He sees the blonde arriving. But poor thing, I think he was lost with the Brazilians who went I don’t know where.  They did make one.

Do you know where the problem of whether the photo is doctored or not begins?  That is the explanation that today at 6 a.m. in Argentina, when the stage suddenly comes out , he gives to the family, to the woman, as told by the environment of the mess. He says, “Yes, they took a picture of me. What happened was that in Argentina, the crooks doctored it, and then they used their media influence to spread it to Buenos Aires.

”  You always have to deny it. No, when we put that title it’s not that we want to force it, but yesterday, let’s say, what happened with it wasn’t just the one who took the photo, this guy was dancing at this party with this girl in front of many people, meaning that the woman, whether she saw the photos or not, found out that he was in this situation.

It’s not such a serious thing, but we put the title on the photos because there was a rumor that there was already trouble, because it was known, this photo is a week old, it was known that this had happened in Las Vegas, that there had been a problem and I don’t think it’s really that serious, I think it humanizes Messi because we had him as an object, the poor kid, they had him  locked up in Barcelona since he was 15.

It all remained that some said it was true, and others said it was a lie.  Even if we take the magazine’s version, it doesn’t prove that there was anything more than that encounter.  And there were more rumors that are no longer worth mentioning, but surely this was painful for Antonela.  She was the one who had left her family behind, who had changed her life to reorganize it around the relationship, who had just given birth, and that Messi was the one who was gaining more and more fame, money, admiration, and virtually endless options for women

.  Even though Messi didn’t do anything, for her, it possibly felt unfair, and it’s hard to imagine that some kind of conversation didn’t arise between them—fears, insecurities—but the interesting thing is that they never, ever allowed the public to know how they handled these situations as a couple.

They never addressed the rumors or came out to deny anything they simply let the noise die down, always showing themselves to be united.  But the difficulties do not seem to have come only from the outside, but also from their own personalities.  Messi has acknowledged that although he currently considers himself detail-oriented, he has always found it difficult to express and demonstrate what he feels.

And in this he means that it is not demonstrative, that you feel a lot, but you express little.  Yes, it’s hard for me to show it, to express it, but yes, but the truth is that for the people I love and truly love, I like to always be well, to show it with actions, to demonstrate it with actions, and she and you are also like that, both of us very much in agreement .

She is actually much more than me. Ah. And well, we always talk, we have arguments about how she stopped being so important because I didn’t like her that much, you know?  It was much, much colder. Ah, so you liked him, but you didn’t show it.  Clear.  And she got all worked up.  He told you, “I’m not giving you anything else.” Clear.  Yes.

Until one day I said to him, ” We’re not privileged anymore, you see?”  Opa, opa, op. Ah, I mean, wine proposal, wine proposal. Supernormal at the beginning of a relationship is as if each person had a temperature, in this case Antonela warmer and more expressive, and Messi colder and more reserved.

And both would have to learn to regulate themselves to find a middle ground where they could understand each other.  It doesn’t mean they will become the same and each will lose their essence, but they will learn each other’s language.  And the cold, with confidence, becomes a little warmer.  And the warm realization that just because he doesn’t show it in the same way doesn’t mean he does n’t love him.

So the stable relationship of Lionel and Antonela that we see today doesn’t seem to have been born with perfect compatibility and that they fell in love as children and everything flowed, but rather they were two people who had to mature, forgive each other and learn to meet halfway.  That’s why, much later in 2019, Messi told TN, “Yes, Antonela is everything to me.

Having her by my side simplifies so many things. We’ve known each other for a long time, she knows me perfectly, she knows how to reach me in every moment, especially the bad ones.”  And this phrase, “she knows how to get to me,” probably refers to the fact that Antonel learned that when he gets upset, he isolates himself , doesn’t want to talk to anyone, and that only she can make him open up because only she knows both the boy from Rosario and Messi, the global phenomenon who often carries extreme pressure,

the place where Messi could be Lionel. After the Las Vegas scandal, a period of stability followed for the family.  He was completely focused on his career, scoring goals, winning championships, traveling the world.  And she became increasingly focused on the home they had created.

He continued behind the scenes, supporting from the sidelines, figuratively speaking.  He appeared at matches, ceremonies, family photographs, but never in the spotlight.  She did not pose for any cover explaining her story.  He did not give an exclusive interview telling everything to a media outlet.  In fact, I found this video of a short interview they both did in 2015, like a little game to see how well they know each other or something like that to see if they can win a car, which they didn’t win at all.

Look out, they’re both there, they’re playing.  There it is, perfect.  We’re playing for a car.  First question for you, Antonela.  In what year did Leo make his debut for Barcelona? In 2003. That’s incorrect.  First question for you, Leo.  It has to do with your son.

How much did Tiago weigh when he was born? 300. How much was Antonela? 3050. Lost.   That ‘s incorrect.  But they’re not going to take the car like that.   We need to practice a little more, but we’re going to get the car. As if Messi were very worried about not having won that car.  But scrolling through the comments on that video, most people say they had never heard Antonela’s voice before.

And despite already having many followers for being Messi’s girlfriend , she was quite reserved.  That same year, 2015, was when Mateo, her second son, was born , and all this being super reserved wasn’t because Messi imposed it on her, or told her, “Your role is to be at home and you look prettier when you’re quiet.”   It’s not a choice she made, and opportunities were pouring in because this article from La Nación from 2014 mentions that, in the 8 years she’s been with the flea, she received requests from all over the planet and always rejected them.  Yes, she was

contacted by magazines, brands, all kinds of requests, but she preferred to be focused on her family, but that doesn’t mean she was completely inactive.  In fact, in 2014 she began developing an Argentine children’s clothing brand called Fans with her cousin Andrea Lomenzo.

The idea came about because they both became mothers and were now interested in finding good quality clothes with fun designs. Antonela took care of the creative side, as she closely observed trends in Europe, while Andrea mainly handled production and business development in Argentina, a discreet project closely connected to her experience of motherhood and far removed from her husband’s fame.

But three years later, in 2017, he attempted a much more visible project, one more connected to the Messi football universe. With Sofía Balvi, Luis Suárez’s wife, he opened a store in Barcelona for the Argentinian shoe brand Ricky Sarani. The opening received extensive media coverage because Messi, Luis, and other Barcelona players attended.

However, the store ended up being a terrible failure, and I think Antonela realized that simply opening businesses with Messi’s publicity wasn’t going to be enough. It seems that both Sofía and Antonela prioritized their family lives over the store, and so it closed less than two years later with a loss of around €150,000.

But Lionel and Antonela definitely made Barcelona a home with routine, schedules, and order, and I think this is also key to Messi’s career.  Reaching the top is one thing, but staying there for years like he has done is quite another.  Messi lived under extraordinary pressure. Outside, he was the player who had to win, the symbol of Barcelona, ​​the hope of Argentina, the rival of Cristiano Ronaldo, and the man that millions of people analyzed under a microscope after every game, which is easy to say, but dealing with that mentally

can be very overwhelming.  But inside his home he could simply be Lionel.   It was probably the only place where he didn’t feel like a product, and I find it very interesting how he once said that Antonela wasn’t interested in football.  He gets bored with football, he doesn’t pay attention to me, and when I get home and tell him, “I’ve scored two goals or I’ve achieved a hat trick,” he’s not interested.

He probably said it exaggerating and with some humor, but I think Antonela didn’t play the role of just another fan receiving him to talk about the game.  He would arrive and feel completely normal.  Without pressure, as she said in that 2023 interview for the Olga channel  and [snort] she’s a good mother, I really admire her and the truth is that she spends 24 hours with them.

We spend a lot of time away: travel, matches, selection, preseason.  Sometimes we go away for a month, a month and a half, two months and she’s there all day.  I stayed, I spent the whole day with the three of them and I’m giving it away. Of course, we’re not going to pretend that Antonela lives like any other mother , that she doesn’t have any kind of domestic help, of course not, she has all the possibilities in the world, money, security, resources, but privilege doesn’t eliminate the emotional responsibility of raising your

children, being present for them, organizing their schedules, giving them routines and protecting them from fame, maintaining a sense of normality.  while his father is one of the most famous men in the world.  So, as you can see, Antonela took on a more traditional role of taking care of the children and the home, which worked very well for them as a family, but I also don’t think her case should be used to impose it on other women who don’t want to do that, who aren’t interested, and whose lives don’t fit with

that, as this tweet says, where it puts Antonela above the others.  She is a woman in every sense of the word: wife, mother, and life partner.  Zero tenement, zero exposure and cheap ostentation.  He has no greed, no selfishness, and no hunger for fame.  If they lack some precarious, precarious qualities, she tells other women, to be a little more like her.  You made a great choice, Messi.

I’ve seen a lot of this kind of thing on social media about Antonela being the model of the perfect wife, but it’s not like all men are like Messi, because as I say, there’s also the other side of the privilege that she was able to choose that, that she did n’t have to worry about economic limitations, she had access to the best schools, staff and the powerful freedom to decide whether to work or not.

And there are even women who have these same privileges and still choose a different path. As the world became more involved in their marriage and as their family image became more powerful and admired, there was also more interest in them. So in 2017, when they decided to get married in Rosario, the whole world wanted to observe and make news of every last detail of their relationship.

And it wasn’t until February 2026, almost 10 years after the wedding, that Messi finally revealed how he proposed to her. How was the marriage proposal?  [laughs] The truth is, we’ve been doing this for a long time, he does n’t even remember.  It feels like they’ve been together for years.  Well, we already had Tiago and Mateo, we already had two children, and well, once we went to eat in Barcelona, ​​a hotel, we spent the night and that’s where I asked her, but more or less it was already like, you knew, it had to be, but it was more of a romantic style, there wasn’t, it’s

not like you just snapped one day and said, “Ah, we’re getting married, that’s it.” No, no, it wasn’t more romantic, but it was more or less like setting the date, something like that .  Clear. Yes, because  the link had already been made official.  The partnership was formalized  and I think it’s a great fit for them.

It was something very private, I mean, not after a game there in the stadium that everyone could see with cameras, right?  And at this point, because of what he said about it no longer being just a formality or something to formalize, but that they both knew it had to happen, it also means that their relationship had matured enough for them to be completely sure that’s where they wanted to be.

They had already built their home and family only that step was missing.  And something very beautiful is that they didn’t want their wedding to be in Italy, in Paris, or even in Barcelona, ​​but decided to have it in Rosario, the place where it all began with their people and where they had grown up. Approximately 260 guests attended, including footballers, singers, and some of the world’s most recognized celebrities.

More than 150 police officers arrived in Rosario and more than 350 police officers were deployed to protect the event.  So what for them was a romantic gesture, a return home to celebrate and formalize their love, for the rest of the world, well, it did cause controversy.  And the fact is, they could no longer return as two normal people.

Everything in their lives was now different, and the place where they celebrated their wedding, the City Center of Rosario, had a very uncomfortable contrast due to the surrounding socio-economic situation. While the hotel and casino are luxurious, they are surrounded by poor and violent neighborhoods.  Politician Carlos del Frade described the wedding as a metaphor for inequality and said that its million-dollar celebration contrasted sharply with the reality of the city.

And I think that in this case there are several truths at the same time, because although many who protested are right, because inequality is sad and they considered it inappropriate, for them it will also be something very authentic.  There was also controversy over the donations made, as Messi and Antonela asked their guests not to bring gifts, but to make donations to the Techo Foundation, which builds emergency housing.

And an article came out revealing the amount donated by the guests, which barely reached 200,000 Argentine pesos, like $10,000 at the time, $12,000 today, and that this was only enough to build about 10 houses.  Imagine the best footballers in the world, the highest paid, the biggest celebrities, and they only raised $10,000.

This was another criticism that Messi and Antonela weren’t even to blame for, because that was more the fault of the guests.  Other media outlets focused more on the dress of Celia Cuchitini, Messi’s mother, because it competed with Antonela’s, both dressed in white, although according to reports Celia’s was silver, but in the photos it looked white.

And immediately rumors began to circulate that they couldn’t stand each other , that she didn’t get along with his family, and you can imagine what happened next.  And even before the wedding, there was already this whole issue of rivalries, because supposedly there were many stories that Shakira and Antonela couldn’t stand each other and that’s why Shakira would n’t attend the wedding.

The rivalry is based on photos like this one where Antonela is sitting while Shakira arrives with Piqué because let’s remember that this was the stage when they were still together and since Piqué was a defender for Barcelona, well, teammate and friend of Messi and Antonela doesn’t even look at either of them, but the photo itself doesn’t prove anything and Shakira completely denied it shortly before.

Are you going to Messi’s wedding?  Maybe.  I don’t want to confirm it, but it’s possible.   Did something happen there with Antonela?  No no.  I do n’t know where they get that from.  I just don’t understand at all, because we’ve been seen together many times.  Someone came up with a silly rumor like this, and it seems to have really taken off , doesn’t it?  But no, we have an excellent relationship and if he can go to his wedding and Messi’s wedding we will go because Gerard and Leo have been very good friends since they were little kids.  Indeed, they did

end up going, and even two years later, in 2019, this wedding was once again at the center of controversy, because the Argentine organizer Bárbara 10 said that she had been removed from the event, that she was already working and everything, but that Messi’s father removed her because he wanted to cut costs, that the man was looking for work by bartering [snort] so as not to pay people.

But this time Antonela did answer him.  It’s really unusual for her to be so reserved and let rumors die down.  I think this did bother her because they were tarnishing her wedding by saying they didn’t want to pay, but she clarified that they did pay for everything and that the decision had been hers and Lio’s, not the father-in-law’s.

But then rumors began to surround them, not so much of infidelity as I told you in the first chapter, but more that Antonel was extremely jealous and controlling with Messi.  It all started with Susy Cortés, a Brazilian model and Miss Bom Boom winner, who frequently posts highly sexualized photos of her obsession with Messi, whether wearing the Barcelona jersey, the Argentina national team jersey, or mentioning him.

Then, to attract even more attention, he got a tattoo of Messi, and don’t think I don’t know, not on his arm, his shoulder, no, in intimate areas, I can’t even show you the photos of the areas where he got them .  He has about five tattoos with his face and his name.   He then said that when he won the World Cup in Qatar he also got a tattoo of himself with the trophy, and for this 2026 World Cup he promised that if Argentina won the World Cup he would get another tattoo of Messi.

As far as we know, he hasn’t responded in any way, not even liking or anything, he hasn’t given these kinds of photos anything, but Susy started to claim not only that Antonela had blocked her on Instagram, but that according to her she had taken Messi’s phone to block her from his account.

I mean, she can’t wrap her head around the idea that Messi himself could block her, but assuming that’s the case, that Antonela forced Messi to block her or that he accessed the phone to block her, I still don’t think that putting a stop to a woman who posts erotic content about your husband is as toxic as she wants to make it seem.

But Susy called her insecure and jealous, and by the end of 2025 she had greatly escalated the accusation, saying that Antonela had personally asked Inter Miami staff not to let her into the MLS Cup final , that this publicly humiliated her, and that she was very upset by the extent of Antonela’s supposed jealousy. But it is not known if it is true.

There is no document or email or anything that has been leaked where Antonela is demanding that I not enter.  We only have Susy’s version and she says she felt humiliated, but doesn’t she think it’s also humiliating to behave like that when it’s a public marriage and with three children because by 2018 they were already a family of five?  She was born months after the wedding, but that was enough to create this reputation around Antonela.

And many began to observe that this was the reason why Messi does not hug the women he takes pictures with.  Like on this 2018 red carpet where he’s with model Yael Shelvia, as you can see Messi is like a statue, not only does he not touch her but he doesn’t even turn to look at her while she puts her hand on his back and even tries to laugh with him, but he doesn’t even flinch.

So everyone assumed that this attitude was because Antonela forbade it.  And there are many photos like this one of K where she doesn’t even take her hands out of the bag.  This other one puts her hand behind him before even touching the girl.  And so many examples have attracted attention for this reason.

But there are also other photos where Messi does hug, and not with any intention, of course, of flirting or romance.  Here she is hugging another star of Argentine women’s football, these two little fans, the singer Nicki Nicole, and she even put her hand on this other one’s waist.  And an interview conducted by Argentine journalist Sofía Martínez shortly before the Qatar 2022 final also became a huge scandal, where she dedicated some very emotional words to Messi, something that any fan would want to say to him, and pay close attention to both

what she says to him and his gaze. The last thing I’m going to tell you isn’t a question, but I just want to say, a world final is coming up and while we all want to win the cup, I want to tell you that beyond the result, there’s something that no one can take away from you.  You went through every single Argentinian.

Hey, I’m telling you the truth, there’s no kid who doesn’t have your shirt, whether it’s the original, the fake one, or the invented one, the imaginary one. You truly made a difference in everyone’s lives, and that, for me, is bigger than any World Cup, and nobody can take that away from you.  It’s a thank you for such a great moment of happiness that you gave to so many people, and I truly hope you carry it in your heart because I think it’s more important than a World Cup, and you already have that.

So thank you, captain. Well, thank you very much.  The truth is that I felt it, I felt it all this time, the affection. Many interpreted both her words and Messi’s gaze as intense flirting, which I honestly don’t know where such a thing came from because what she says to him are simply words of admiration and respect, and Messi’s gaze, I see as thank you very much, you don’t know how much I appreciate it because his history with the Argentine national team is quite complicated, and we’ll talk about that later.  So, the fact that an

Argentinian woman was making him feel valued and validating him when he felt immense pressure to win that cup was like a hug for his soul. Nothing sexual, nor cheating on his wife or anything like that, but of course the internet went in another direction and from there a whole soap opera was made that Messi sometimes avoided, like this clip, for example, where he does not greet her, but the teammate who is next to him and it was surely because Messi was trying to avoid flirting with her.

However, this World Cup started differently for her she wasn’t seen very close to Messi, even further away than we could have expected.  So much so that the other day when Messi greeted Maxi López, who was with Sofía Martínez next to him , Maxi López greeted him and didn’t even give her a wink, a little look, a “what if you want to put the bar the bar of that situation and I come here on the iPad, you see that there she greets him, the one in the white shirt, she can raise her arms crossed, she approaches, Maxi greets him

and they cut her out of frame because it looks bad, look.  And so there is a great deal of speculation both in serious media outlets like these and on social networks.  You can imagine.  She spoke of attacks on her family, of being harassed too much about this issue, and this video also went viral where Antonela and Messi are walking as a couple.

Sofia greets him, immediately placing her hand on Messi’s back as if to mark her territory, supposedly. Hi, Luco.  Hello.  Hello.  Hello.  How are you? Hi, Leo.  Hello.  Advancement. Greetings to the family. And if you read the description of that video, it says that he also had a girlfriend who marked her territory when he greeted female friends, like those behaviors of jealous people, and in the comments that Antonela is terrible, that she turned out to be very toxic, and although I confess that I also like those topics of body language, I

am also aware that it is not a rule that applies 100%, and that if you touch your nose you are lying, that if you turn this way or that you are telling the truth.  Sometimes things are quite obvious and sometimes they aren’t, like this one, where it seems that Messi slows down and she, to avoid colliding, puts her hand on his arm.

Even if she had put it on, I find the smile she gives Sofia when greeting her more revealing that smile is genuine.  But other clips also went viral , such as this one where Antonela supposedly slaps Messi after he tries to look at a girl out of the corner of his eye, and Messi makes a face like he’s been scolded.   It all happened in the VIP box.

Messi greets a girl as if nothing’s wrong, but then tries to glance at her out of the corner of his eye and that’s when Antonela gives him a look that not even the toughest defender would dare. Number 10 instantly turned his head as if he had been whistled offside.  The networks exploded.  Antonela covers him better than Van D.

And this comment from that video caught my attention: “If they control Messi, what awaits us mere mortals and a crying face?”  But what made me laugh was the response to the comment that said, “It’s okay, you don’t lose anything with mortals , so there’s no need to control.” And they also show this video of a Miami vs.

Puebla game where Messi was looking at his cell phone and Antonela glances over as if to read what he’s writing, which doesn’t mean that’s how their relationship is, but of course we can’t justify or defend extreme controlling, jealous, or possessive behavior, and curiously, the only one who has confessed to being very jealous is Messi.

And something that disproves this extreme control is that Sofía Martínez herself shared that during all this commotion about her flirting with Messi, Antonela wrote to her to reassure her. But the other day I saw a note summarizing that you said Antonela, Rio’s wife , wrote to you at one point to try to downplay the whole situation and avoid any awkwardness or anything like that .

Yes, yes, it’s true, it’s true.  And it means a lot to me because he had no need to write to me and suddenly he wrote to me saying, “Sofi, don’t worry.”  In other words, no room for fools . Those are the exact words. Cantonera told the fools not to give them any space.   I ca n’t believe it.   I appreciate it because it was also a time when I wasn’t having a very good time because I was already bothering people, right? They were making things up or creating situations that didn’t have to exist.

It all seemed very unfair to me, and for her to send me that message was kind of reassuring, you know?   What’s more, it’s better if she tells you than if he tells you.  I admire her a lot and I would love to do a story with her sometime in the future. So if she were as super toxic as she’s portrayed on social media, of course she wouldn’t have sent this message to Sofia.

And Messi himself also tried to lower the intensity of this senseless drama because in the past 2026 world cup he said this. If I look at you, it’s because I’m looking at you if I greet you, it’s because I’m greeting you.  So much so.  Okay, let’s get down to what we really love, which is our work.

So thank you very much for that.  I appreciate the gesture. And after this, Sofia made a blog where she said that all this happened because she is now a woman, that a male reporter who had congratulated Messi, had told him how much he admires him, would not have caused any of this drama.  There are a lot of programs that say a lot of things just because they’re women , because they don’t do that to any man .

I think the gesture of greeting me and saying that is a gesture of a guy who might only be thinking about the World Cup, and yet he looks around and there might be a girl having a bad time because they say whatever and he doesn’t care that happens.  Then he greets you and says, “I greet you so they’ll stop torturing you.

”  I feel that way a little, but it also makes sense to think that Antonela probably does set strong boundaries and has an attitude more about avoiding situations that could lead to misunderstandings because of all the scandals that happened at the beginning, but not so much because she’s a jealous control freak, but because of protecting her family and the stability they’ve worked so hard to achieve.

when everything stopped revolving around football. Up until this point, many of the supposed crises surrounding Messi and Antonela had been constructed from the outside by the press, the public, and social media, but it was in 2020 when the problem did not come from outside, but rather stability was put at risk because Lionel wanted to leave Barcelona.

It had been a very complicated season, and Messi had conflicts with the club’s management, so he made this decision. He told Gaos magazine, “When I told my wife and children, the idea of ​​leaving was a huge drama. The whole family started crying. My children didn’t want to leave Barcelona or change schools. For Tiago, Mateo, and Ciro, Barcelona wasn’t a foreign city it was their home, where they were born and raised, where they had their friends, their school, their routine.

And for Antonela, it had also become her home. So it’s understandable that it hurt her too , but she still decided to support him because, as he said, “My wife, with all the pain in her heart, supported me and stood by me.” She understood that Messi’s career was the priority , but they ultimately stayed for another season because there were problems with Messi’s contract.

If he left, it would lead to a lawsuit and a huge spectacle, so it was better to stay. Ironically, Messi decided that he did want to stay after all, but in 2021, even though he  He wanted to continue, but the club could no longer afford to keep him. So, now, although neither of them wanted to leave, the family was forced to find another place, and their destination was Paris.

Now Messi would play for PSG, and although arriving in Paris looked very appealing from the outside—Messi playing with Mbappé and Neymar, continuing to compete in the Champions League, and being in one of the most beautiful cities in the world—it wasn’t necessarily a dream come true for the family to live there day-to-day.

Messi recounted in this interview with a sports outlet that it was a very difficult period because he enjoyed family life much less, he missed school activities, and the daily routine they had built in Barcelona had disappeared in Paris. It seemed that Messi was beginning to care more about family stability than being number one in the world.

And it was during this period that the 2022 Qatar World Cup arrived , where Messi was not only seeking to win the most important goal of his career but also to heal a wound with his country, because in Europe Messi had won everything, but with Argentina he had lost everything. A

part of the public also…  He questioned everything terribly, even Tiago would ask him, ” Why don’t they like you in Argentina, Dad?” And that’s why Sofía’s words, when she was telling him that everyone loved him and what he meant to Argentinians, were moving him deeply. It was a wound he had to prove: that yes, he left Argentina to achieve great things, but that it was still his country and that he would give everything for them, that he did belong.

The final was on December 18, 2022, against France. Argentina won, and it’s very emotional to see how Messi greets Antonela and their children from the field as if to say, “It’s all over, it was all worth it .” And then when she comes down, she’s with him celebrating there, holding the cup, him hugging her from behind, and tears start to flow.

And of course, they don’t seem to be tears of sadness, but rather, “Wow, how hard it was to get here.” And this photo where Messi is taking Antonela’s picture with the World Cup trophy is super interesting it went viral because everyone was saying, “Wow, you must be something special” to… Imagine Messi himself taking a picture of you.

Because of all this, it makes perfect sense that Messi rejected the super-offer made by the Saudi Arabian club to Gilal, Al-Nazar’s rival, where Cristiano Ronaldo plays. They wanted to revive the Lionel Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry, like Barcelona and Real Madrid, but in a Saudi version, and were willing to pay him a fortune: $400 million per season, almost double what they were paying Cristiano Ronaldo. But Messi didn’t accept.

He himself said that if it had only been about money, then yes, he would have gone to Saudi Arabia, but this also shows that he was no longer driven so much by ego, money, competition, or being number one, but by the well-being of his family. And that’s why he decided to go to Inter Miami for less money and a significant drop in performance.

When Messi went to Inter, Inter was a losing team, they couldn’t do anything right, they had a winless streak, it wasn’t the place for one of the best players in the world, and besides, this would that he would lower his level because he would no longer be competing at the European level. And of course, it must also be clarified that yes, although it was much less money than in Saudi Arabia, it was still a fortune.

And because of all this, the conversation resurfaced that Antonela forced Messi to leave Paris because she hated Paris and wanted to live the luxurious life of Miami. And although I think she did have something to do with the decision, she gave her opinion like any wife in any marriage, I also don’t think she imposed it like a dictator, but rather that it was what they both saw as best for the family.

Now it’s Antonela’s turn. By that time, Tiago, Mateo, and Ciro were older. They didn’t need their mother as much because they had more structured school routines, more time at school, and Antonela began to have more time for herself. Since 2022, when she was still in Paris, she started her first commercial campaign with the sports brand Alo, which feels very organic because it goes very well with Antonela’s style, so much so that she likes exercise, a healthy lifestyle, and dressing that way every day. But now  When

they arrived in Miami, these opportunities with brands increased dramatically because everyone in the United States was excited about Messi’s arrival, his family, and watching him play. I couldn’t even get tickets here because they sold out immediately the day they were released, and that’s when Antonela started working more and more with brands like Tiffany, Lancôme, and Gerlan.

She even made a video of her daily routine with the brand, where we can see that after waking up, she does her skincare routine, then her exercise routine, drinks some mate, works a little, and then puts on her makeup. Also in 2023, she launched her own collection with Casty, featuring phrases related to her lifestyle, like ” sweat now, shine later,” since she loves the gym.

And that same year, she starred alongside Messi in her first Adidas campaign. The brand, which had featured her husband for almost 20 years , was now giving her the opportunity, or rather, she was giving the brand the opportunity, because I imagine that offer had been on the table for a long time. It was smart of Adidas to put them together first, and now Antonela has her own exclusive campaign for the line.  of Time.

She also began attending events without Lionel and occupying spaces where she was more the protagonist, posing alongside models like Rossy Huntington and Adriana Lima. And in October 2024, she appeared on her first magazine cover, 15 years after the world first knew her as Messi’s girlfriend . The following year, in 2025, she also appeared on the cover of Voc Mexico and Latin America, which was also one of her first interviews.

I loved this interview because she comes across as very authentic, she opens up she’s not a character I feel I only got to know in a few paragraphs. She begins by admitting that she’s nervous and that all of this still scares her. “Now all of this is new to me. I’m slowly getting more confident , overcoming the fear I had before.

I’m learning about myself, breaking down my own barriers.” She also spoke, like every mother, about the fear of when her children leave home. ” Now that I’m a mother, I think that if Tiago, who is the oldest, were to tell me he was leaving, I don’t know what I would do.”  She also says she likes to keep things tidy.

It’s hard for me to break out of routines. It’s important for me to maintain order at home otherwise, it’s difficult with the kids. In the end, everything revolves around them, and the afternoons belong to her children. She also mentions that she’s trying to let go of the guilt she feels about leaving her children for her projects.

I don’t know if it’s my time now, but perhaps I do feel freer. I used to be in the supporting role because my children were also young, and my priority was being with them at home. Now they’re older. I don’t feel as much guilt, and I’m more eager to do new things. I feel freer and more motivated to take advantage of the opportunities that come up.

This ” mom guilt” thing is super common many mothers I talk to, myself included, feel it, and the fact that even Messi’s wife feels it makes her quite human. She also talks about the support Leo gives her. Now Leo is supporting me a lot. I tell him about an opportunity that’s come up, and he gives me advice it goes both ways .

And in 2026, she was named the global ambassador of the  She’s a model for the makeup brand Anastasia Beverly Hills and appeared on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Mexico. She’s always been there for her husband and family, supporting them whenever they choose, and now that he wants to try new things, she’s doing just that. That’s why it makes so much sense when Messi said, “When I need to talk about football, I go to my father, but when I need to talk about life, I talk to Antonela.

” I think that pretty much explains why they’ve worked out. Another couple who are the complete opposite of Messi and Antonela are Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez. Although they’re so different, both relationships have worked out. While Messi and Antonela tried to protect their normal lives within the spotlight, Cristiano and Georgina built much of their identity around her.

One relationship began before the global phenomenon, and the other when he was already CR7. That’s all we talked about in part one of this video, and we’ll also have a part three about Neymar Junior, a man who also sought love and family, but unlike Messi and Cristiano, he didn’t want to give up the single life, his infidelity, and everything else that fame allowed.

We analyze his patterns and controversial evolution from becoming a teenage father to the footballer and husband he is today. It’s quite interesting. See you there. I’ll leave the link below. Many thanks to Odu for making this video possible. Thanks also to the members. I invite you to become members if you’d like to support the channel that way, but any way you can or want to support this channel counts, and it counts a lot.

I look forward to your comments below I’d love to read what you knew and didn’t know about this marriage, and what you think. And I’ll see you very soon in the next one. Goodbye.