Lionel Messi met his wife Antonella Roccuzzo when the two were both children, but their relationship has been far from straightforward – even losing contact for a number of years

Lionel Messi admits that his relationship with wife Antonella Roccuzzo hasn’t always been straightforward.

Messi tied the knot with his teenage sweetheart in 2017 in their hometown of Rosario, Argentina, having met when they were both nine at a cousin of Antonella’s home. The pair have now been happily wed for seven years and have three children together; Thiago, 11, Mateo, 8, and Ciro, 6.

The former Barcelona man has spent most of his adult life in Europe with the Catalan club. But last year he moved back closer to home by joining Inter Miami, who are owned by David Beckham. Antonella has been with him almost every step of the way.

Speaking about their first encounters, Lionel told the Willing to Everything podcast: “I used to go to her house because of her cousin and that’s where I met her, when we were very young. I always liked her.”

A budding prospect at the time, Messi rose through the ranks of Grandoli and Newell’s Old Boys in his homeland before Barcelona came calling at the turn of the millennium. And a move to Spain would cause Leo and Roccuzzo to lose touch for a number of years.

He added: “Then at 13 years old I went to Spain and we kind of lost contact. Communication was much more difficult than now. It was through letters, emails or some international phone calls which were expensive.

“So we stopped talking and distanced ourselves a lot.”

Messi and Roccuzzo share three sons ( Image: Getty Images)

However, when Antonella lost a friend in a tragic car crash, Messi returned to Argentina – rekindling their relationship and staying in touch via instant messaging.

Messi added: “At 16 or 17 years old we reconnected; communication was much easier with messenger, we chatted there. We got closer again; we hadn’t lost that feeling we had as kids; nothing had changed.”

As Messi approached the age of 20, he and Antonella started dating and she agreed to join him in Barcelona. They would welcome their first son, Thiago, in November 2012 – with Messi showing off his son with his name and handprints in a love heart permanently tattooed onto his leg.

Speaking on the impact of his first son, Messi in 2013 told El Periodico: “My son has changed my life more than the Ballon d’Or [awards] have. When I look at life, think about each moment, when I analyse every situation…Now everything is different.”

The pair are childhood sweethearts ( Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The pair tied the knot in 2017 ( Image: Getty Images)

Messi and Antonella would welcome their second son, Matteo, in September 2015, before marrying in 2017 in a lavish ceremony at the City Centre Hotel and Casino of Rosario which was dubbed Argentina’s ‘wedding of the century.’

The pair were dashed with confetti as they walked down the aisle at the star studded affair which was attended by the likes of Neymar, Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique and Shakira.