Photo of 10 year old Messi and Antonella taken in 1998 goes viral
The image of the future Barcelona and Argentina star was taken in the seaside resort of Mar de Plata when Messi was 10 and his wife-to-be nine
Lionel Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo finally married in the summer of 2017 in their native Rosario but the couple have been an 'item' since childhood.
A photograph has recently surfaced of the pair together when they were children (Messi was ten-years-old at the time of the snap) and has become a viral sensation on social media platforms.
The picture was taken near to Mar de Plata and shows the ten-year-old posing with the then nine-year-old Antonella on the Punta Mogotes beach with a group of friends.
Messi was involved with a under-age tournament with his then team Newell's Old Boys in the resort town according to local paper 'Diario La Capital de Mar de Plata' who unearthed the picture. The young Messi was staying with football player Francisco Ludueña and availed of time-off to visit the beach where they spent time with teammate Lucas Scaglia and his family who had invited their cousin Antonella along for the break.