Messi was the first romantic relationship with Macarena Lemos, also from his hometown of Rosario. He is said to know them on one hand and the girl's father when he returned to Rosario to recover from his injury a few days before the start of the 2006 World Cup [In the past also been linked to the bar temptation Argentine Luciana Salazar. In January 2009 he told the "trick Bursa", a program that displays the channel Canal 33: "I have a friend who lives in Argentina. And I am relaxed and happy." He was seen with the girl, Antonella Rokozo, in the Carnival in Sitges after the Derby Barcelona and Espanyol. A fellow countryman from Rosario. He has two cousins who are also playing football plays wing Maxi Club Olympia of Paraguay, and Emmanuel Biancucchi, who plays as a midfielder for the Spanish club Girona.