Messi to wed childhood sweetheart in Rosario

BARCELONA: Football superstar Lionel Messi is to marry his long term partner and mother of his two children, Antonella Roccuzzo, in their hometown of Rosario on June 30, the Argentina striker revealed on Thursday.

"The wedding will be held in Rosario, Argentina, on June 30," Messi's personal communications agency 6Pointer said.

The ceremony between the five-time Ballon d'Or winner and his childhood sweetheart is to be held at Rosario cathedral and many of Messi's Barcelona teammates are expected, chief amongst them the couple's closest friends, Uruguay striker Luis Suarez and his wife Sofia Balbi.

Messi turns 30 on June 24 and Roccuzzo is 29 and the pair have been living together for nine years and have two children, four-year-old Thiago and baby Mateo.