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The name Lucas Scaglia may not mean much to most people but without him, Lionel Messi’s marriage to childhood sweetheart Antonela Roccuzzo may never have happened.
While playing for Newell’s Old Boys as kids, so the story goes, Scaglia and Messi became friends off the pitch.
A young Messi soon began spending an increasing amount of time at the Scaglia family home after laying eyes on his friend’s cousin, Antonela Roccuzzo.
The story came full circle Friday, more than 20 years later, when Barcelona star Messi – arguably the world’s best player – and Roccuzzo tied the knot back where they first met in their hometown of Rosario.
“Being who he is, he could have been married in the best place in the world, and must have had many offers,” Enrique Domínguez, Messi’s former coach at Newell’s Old Boys, told CNN’s Ivan Sarmenti.
“He must have had offers so that his wedding, the best moment of his life, could take place where others wanted – and yet he chose Rosario.
“And the place where the wedding is taking place is very close where he was born, he lived and grew up.”
Soccer star Lionel Messi, right, and Antonela Rocuzzo pose for pictures at their wedding on June 30, 2017 in Rosario, Argentina.
Gabriel Rossi/LatinContent WO/Getty Images
FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi kisses long-time girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo as they celebrate Barcelona's win over Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final in Madrid in May 2016.
Francisco Seco/AP
Roccuzzo was also born in Rosario. The couple's wedding will take place in the City Center Casino, in the Las Flores neighborhood of Rosario. The couple are parents to to four-year-old Thiago and one-year-old Mateo.
Denis Doyle/Getty Images
According to CNN Espanol's Ivan Sarmenti, 260 guests -- including Messi's Barcelona teammates -- will attend and 150+ journalists will cover the event.
Matthias Hangst/Getty Images
A huge security presence is expected at the venue. There will be no access for the public, while Las Flores is one of the city's most dangerous districts.
Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images
Messi and Roccuzzo are pictured on holiday in Ibiza with Cesc Fabregas and his girlfriend Daniella Semaan, who are expected to attend the wedding.
Europa Press via Getty Images
The couple are seen arriving for the wedding of Messi's teammate Andres Iniesta in Altafulla, Spain in July, 2012. Among guests expected at Messi and Roccuzzo's wedding are some of Messi's current and former teammates, including Gerard Pique and his pop star wife, Shakira.
JOSEP LAGO/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Messi and Roccuzzo ride a jet ski in Ibiza, Spain, in August 2011.
Europa Press via Getty Images
The couple leave a beach in Rio de Janeiro after the arrival of photographers in July 2010, around the time world media became aware they were in a relationship.
GABRIEL REIS/AFP/Getty Images
Goal of a lifetime? Messi weds longtime girlfriend in hometown
Domínguez recalls the painful moment a tearful 12-year-old Messi had to leave Argentina for Spain to undergo treatment for an illness, leaving behind his friends, family, school and Roccuzzo.
Without the financial means to travel between the two countries, it would be a few years until the pair would see each other again.
During his early years in the Barcelona first team, Messi’s relationship with Roccuzzo was kept under wraps, until the pair – who are now parents to 4-year-old Thiago and 1-year-old Mateo – were widely identified as a couple by the world’s media before the 2010 World Cup.
Despite spending more than half of his life in Barcelona, Dominguez says he isn’t surprised Messi chose to return home to marry.
“That he chose his city, to choose Rosario to come to marry, to bring his companions of Barcelona and other guests to discover the city that saw him grow … it’s just who Leo is,” Dominguez says.
“A guy with affection, with memory, a grateful guy because being who he is could have been married in the best place in the world.”
Situated almost 300km to the north of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, Rosario is the third most populous city in the country.
The public was not allowed access to the hotel where the wedding took place, instead watching on big screens in other parts of the city.
Around 250 guests were expected to attend, including Messi’s Barcelona teammates Neymar, Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez. Colombian singer Shakira, who is married to Pique, was also expected to be there.
“I like the idea of him coming to marry here,” Martin Brebbia, a student in Rosario, told CNN. “To come closer to their family, to the friendships that they have here.
“But that makes me happy, that he’s approached the city and that they are holding it here “
The wedding venue is in ‘Las Flores’ district, one of the most dangerous areas of the city and somewhere ‘La Banda de los Monos’ – one of the country’s most famous narcos groups – have great influence.
