In Miami, Lionel Messi was photographed going out on the town with his teammates and close friends Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez. The group joined the dance floor to celebrate the birthday of Antonella Roccuzzo, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The three former Barcelona players had dinner with Sergio Busquets and other guests at David Grutman and Bad Bunny’s Gekko restaurant on Saturday, hours after Inter Miami’s 5-0 victory over in-state rivals Orlando City, in which both Messi and Suarez scored braces. The restaurant is an opulent Japanese steakhouse that costs more than $100 per person.
The pair and their companions relished the remainder of their evening at Gekko Lounge, dancing to the mixes of Argentine DJ and producer Bizarrap in the DJ booth.
You’re awesome, @bizarrap! Beautiful evening spent with friends,’ Messi wrote in the Instagram post’s description on Sunday.
He also commented, “Thank you for everything, @davidgrutman,” beside a photo of himself and Antonella, who were celebrating the latter’s 36th birthday at the business owner’s restaurant.
The first post Messi made was on Monday, the day his childhood sweetheart was born: “Pearl, happy birthday!” @antonelarocuzzo, you have my love.
First, the couple honored Antonela’s birthday by posing with their three sons, Thiago, 11, Matteo, 8, and Ciro, 5, in front of multicolored balloons, a cardboard Pocahontas sign, and a “Happy Birthday Anto” wall sticker.
“Un ano mas viejita” means “one year older” in English, and Antonela penned that as the caption for her Instagram photo of her family.
Along with wishing Antonela a happy birthday, Victoria Beckham shared a photo of the two of them from what looked to be a girls’ lunch on Instagram.
Messi and Inter Miami kicked off a month of seven games on Saturday. Later in March, Messi’s home country of Argentina has summoned him up for two exhibition matches against Costa Rica and El Salvador over a four-day period.
Both friendly are scheduled to take place in the United States, with the Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia serving as the site of the match against El Salvador. It’s going to be Argentina vs Costa Rica in Los Angeles.
A scheduling clash between the Inter Miami and Argentina games, however, may arise because Messi will have to return right away to the East Coast for the Herons’ away game against the Red Bulls in New York on March 23, which is scheduled to take place the day after Argentina-Costa Rica.
Head coach of Inter Miami Gerardo “Tata” Martino alluded to Messi’s potential indications of exhaustion following just two MLS games, the day before the player’s brace on Saturday. As the season progresses, he promised to closely watch his 36-year-old star’s playing time.
Messi participated in the entire ninety minutes of the match against Orlando.