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Shakira was among a host of stars who were guests in what many in Latin America are calling the “wedding of the century” — the nuptials of soccer legend Lionel Messi and longtime girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo.

The Colombian pop star, 40, attended with her partner, Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué, 30. Football stars and celebrities were among the 260 guests who arrived at the glamorous wedding held in Messi’s hometown of Rosario, Argentina.

Messi, 30, met Roccuzzo, 29, met when they were children before he moved to Spain as a teenager.

Other celebrities in attendance included Messi’s FC Barcelona teammates Luis Suarez and Neymar. Spanish-language newspaper El Pais reported that close to 300 law enforcement officials were surrounding the wedding as security, while hundreds of fans lines the streets outside the hotel to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds.

Image zoom Patricio Murphy/ZUMA Press/Splash News

According to La Nacion, Shakira opted for black semi-transparent dress for the wedding.

FROM COINAGE: Tips for Planning a Wedding on a Budget

Roccuzzo’s wedding dress was designed by Spanish designer Rosa Clara, who has also designed dresses for Queen Letizia of Spain and Eva Longoria. The dress sported a heart-shaped lace back, with a sweeping train and beaded detailing, as well as low-cut cleavage.

Messi and Roccuzzo share two sons, Thiago, 4, and Mateo, 1.</s>The private jets are landing in Argentina for the wedding of the year -- soccer superstar Lionel Messi tying the knot to his childhood sweetheart ... and Shakira's on the guest list.

The singer and her soccer star husband, Gerard Pique, touched down in Rosario for the wedding, reportedly set to go down Friday afternoon in front of a crowd of hundreds.

Among the stars expected to watch Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo -- soccer studs Luis Suarez, Neymar, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Puyol.</s>Five year old Franco plays with a ball in the field where soccer player Lionel Messi used to train when he was a child, in Rosario, Argentina, on June 29, 2017. On Friday Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi will marry his partner Antonella Roccuzzo.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Xinhuanet.</s>Santa Fe (New Mexico), Jun 30: Today (June 30), football superstar Lionel Messi will marry his childhood girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo in Rosario, Santa Fe, where he grew up and played for his first football club Newell’s Old Boys.

The 30-year-old's wedding will be covered by a team of 200 security agents led by a former Argentinian military official.

All players of the current Barcelona side have been invited to the wedding but former manager Luis Enrique’s presence has not been solicited by the Barcelona number ten which is a bit surprising.

Messi’s former teammates and close friends Xavi Hernandez and Carles Puyol will be both attending the mega-event.

It is also believed that Lionel Messi’s icon and Argentina great Diego Maradona will also grace the wedding ceremony.

Argentine TV station Cadena 3 managed to get their hands on a copy of the menu that will be served at the reception.

There will be an Argentine flavour to the food on offer, with several dishes from Messi’s homeland available to the guests – such as pasta balls filled with ricotta, mozzarella and ham and meat/fish empanadas

Guests will be treated to a cold buffet of hams, cheeses and pates to begin with which will then be followed by a variety of meats on offer for the main course, including Argentinian steak, spicy sausage and chicken chop suey.

Instead of asking for material gifts, the couple have requested donations to Messi’s charity, the Leo Messi Foundation, which supports children in healthcare, education, and sport.

We wish the global superstar and his childhood love Antonella a very happy married life.</s>A host of star footballers have arrived in Rosario ahead of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi's wedding on Friday night.

Messi's former team-mates at the Nou Camp, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Cesc Fabregas and Samuel Eto'o were all photographed ahead of the glamorous marriage ceremony.

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero was also in attendance, as well as fellow Argentina star Ezequiel Lavezzi as they posed in tuxedos on the red carpet.

The wedding is taking place at the impressive City Center Rosario complex, which Messi has rented out as he prepares to tie the know in style.

The marriage takes place in a sentimental location for the couple with Messi returning to his birthplace Rosario for the ceremony.

Messi met Roccuzzo when they were just five years old growing up in the Argentine city, located three hours north west of Buenos Aires.

The couple have two children, Thiago and Mateo, who are both present for the grand event on Friday night.

Lionel Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo will finally tie the knot this week, cementing a relationship that stretches right back to when they were just five years old growing up in Rosario, Argentina.</s>Lionel Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo greet the press after their civil wedding ceremony at the City Center Rosario Hotel & Casino on Friday.

Soccer star Lionel Messi married his childhood sweetheart in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina, on Friday, the BBC reported.

Messi, 30, married 29-year-old Antonela Roccuzzo in a civil ceremony at a luxury hotel in Rosario. More than 250 guests attended the ceremony, including Messi’s teammates from Barcelona, Luis Suarez, Neymar and Gerald Pique; and Colombia pop star Shakira, the BBC reported.

Messi, a forward for Barcelona, first met Roccuzzo when he was 13.

Argentina's Clarín newspaper has called the nuptials "the wedding of the year" and "the wedding of the century," the BBC reported.

“Being who he is, he could have been married in the best place in the world, and must have had many offers,” Enrique Dominguez, Messi’s former coach at Newell’s Old Boys, told CNN. “And yet he chose Rosario.”

Messi and Roccuzzo have two children -- Thiago, 4; and Mateo, 1.</s>Lionel Messi's soccer buds have arrived at the Barcelona superstar's wedding ceremony ... but it's their smokin' hot wives who stole the show!!

Messi and his longtime girlfriend, Antonella Roccuzzo﻿, are tyin' the knot today ... and some of the biggest names in the sport are on the guest list, like Messi's old Barcelona teammates, Xavi, Carles Puyol and Cesc Fabregas.

They didn't go stag, of course ... bringing their beautiful wives along for the festivities.

Check out the arrivals ... other footballers Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and many others.

Here's a first look at the ceremony ... with the happy couple sharin' a smooch while being serenaded by a live band.</s>MESSI DAY: F.C. Barcelona and Argentina International ace Lionel Messi wore a dark grey three-piece Giorgio Armani Made to Measure suit for his wedding with Antonella Roccuzzo held in Rosario, Argentina, on June 30.

Messi is rated as one of the best soccer players in the history of this sport.

Messi and Roccuzzo’s children Thiago and Mateo also wore three-piece suits from the Armani Junior line created expressly for them.

Singer Shakira and her husband Gerard Piqué, and fellow soccer champs Samuel Eto’o, Neymar Jr., and Dani Alves were among the reportedly 260 guests at the ceremony.</s>Santa Fe Province: Footballers and celebrities including pop singer Shakira gathered Friday for the "wedding of the century" in Lionel Messi`s Argentine hometown as the Barcelona superstar prepared to marry his childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo.

Shakira and her husband, Messi`s teammate Gerard Pique, arrived at the airport and headed to the wedding venue to join 260 guests including numerous footballers such as Messi`s Barcelona strike partners Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Argentine media called it the "wedding of the century" for Rosario, the gritty northern port city where Messi, 30, and his bride 29, met when the player was nine years old.

Former Barca and current Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas was also expected, as well as Argentina and Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero.The public relations company organizing the event warned in a statement that the ceremony will be "strictly private."

Television crews and reporters gathered at the wedding venue hoping for a glimpse of the couple or at least some of their guests.

The party will be a respite for Messi from his legal woes. A Spanish court last month rejected his appeal against a conviction for tax fraud.

Brunette bride Roccuzzo, 29, will wear a gown by Rosa Clara -- a Spanish designer who has dressed actress Eva Longoria and Spain`s Queen Letizia.The wedding is scheduled at 2200 GMT in the City Center casino, which stands right next to a crime-ridden slum run by drug gangs.

The civil wedding ceremony and party will all take place inside the venue, and the guests will be lodged there too.

The feast will reportedly feature Argentine delicacies such as roast gizzards.

Uruguayan pop bands Rombai and Marama plus singer Karina, Aguero`s wife, will perform at the reception.

There were also rumors that there would be singing by Shakira, the Colombian diva famous for "Hips Don`t Lie" and "Whenever, Wherever."

Shakira had recently denied rumors that she would miss the wedding due to a quarrel with Roccuzzo.Messi and Roccuzzo live in Barcelona where he plays, but still return regularly to Rosario for vacations.

He moved to Spain when he was 13 to join FC Barcelona, but the couple kept in touch.

Messi has gone on to win the top Ballon d`Or award five times. He is widely regarded as the world`s best footballer.

But various old friends of the couple in their home city said the bride and groom are humble folk who have never forgotten where they come from.

"They are the love of each other`s lives," Messi`s childhood friend Diego Vallejos told AFP.

Instead of wedding presents, they have asked for donations to a children`s charity.

The couple have reportedly spent the past two weeks in Rosario with family, but have kept out of sight of the reporters who have invaded the city.

Rumors circulated of bachelor and bachelorette parties, but the only evidence that emerged was a photo, posted by ex-Barca goalkeeper Jose Pinto, of Messi enjoying a barbecue with a few friends.

Some friends of Roccuzzo have shared pictures of her relaxing with relatives.

On the eve of the wedding, a festive atmosphere reigned in the Las Heras neighborhood where Messi grew up.

"We will celebrate," said Damian Lugoni, 27, a local sausage sandwich vendor.

"I wish good luck to Leo and Anto, who is just as simple and nice as him."

"We are all happy for them," said Lisandro Urteaga, an artist who was called in to paint a mural of Messi in the neighborhood for the occasion.

"Let him celebrate the way someone like him deserves. He is a real example as a human being -- although when he plays football he doesn`t seem to be from this planet."</s>Lionel Messi's teammates past and present touched down in Argentina yesterday, ahead of the Barcelona star's wedding.

The 30-year-old striker is set to wed long-term girlfriend 29 year old Antonella Roccuzzo in his hometown of Rosario today, at the Hotel City Centre Casino.

The players arrived dressed in caps, hoods and dark sunglasses, with suitcases in hand. Local reporters broadcasting from the scene on radio and television told their audiences it was “the wedding of the century” for Rosario.

Authorities said 450 police officers were deployed at key points in the gritty port city, the birthplace of the bloody drug gang Los Monos – to ensure that guests traveled safely to the venue. With a homicide rate twice the national rate, Rosario is considered one of Argentina’s most dangerous cities.

Fellow Barcelona player Luis Suarez arrived with his wife Sofia Balbi and their children at Rosario's airport.

Players Jordi Alba, Segio Busquets were seen stepping off a private jet with former teammate, Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas.

Other players and their families, including former teammate Samuel Eto'o, stopped to pose for a group photo on the tarmac.

Also expected among the wedding guests – and sure to draw the attention of starstruck fans at the airport – are Messi’s teammate Gerard Pique and his wife, Colombian pop star Shakira.
Celebrities make a pilgrimage to Argentina for the wedding of soccer superstar Lionel Messi.