Jorge Messi, Leo Messi’s father, has passed away in Rosario after a long illness, according to the official X account of Newell’s Old Boys, the Argentine star’s original team. He was 68 years old. Husband of Celia Cuccitini and father of Lionel, Rodrigo, Matías, and María Sol, Jorge has been throughout his son’s football career his agent, advisor, and main support. The death of his father caught the footballer in Miami, where he had returned a couple of weeks ago to resume the season with his team, which has a match this Saturday.
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When Messi accepted Barça’s offer to join the youth football at 13 years old, Jorge led the move and the entire organization of family life both in Barcelona and Rosario. He always stayed with him in Barcelona while the boy was growing on the field.
With the company of different lawyers, more specialists in labor, legal, and football matters, but Jorge was always Leo’s official representative. The man who negotiated all contracts with the different Barça presidents, whether at the elite Joan Laporta, Sandro Rosell, or Josep Maria Bartomeu. As his son’s career covered stages, he also became a great expert on what was going on around him and was always a protective shield for the forward. Meanwhile, his wife and daughter had returned to Rosario and had to manage from a distance for a long time.
He was always by Leo’s side, as his agent and main support
Until the last months, he always tried to be present at major events, close to his son. That is why it was noticeable that he was not at this summer’s World Cup. Everything took off when Messi, after scoring a hat-trick against Austria in Argentina’s debut, celebrated it with tears in his eyes. “The truth is that these tears are mostly for the family. Because, well, he is always there, always accompanies. Now we are in a difficult moment. So many things came together,” said Leo.
Jorge Messi trained as a chemical technician and joined the Acindar factory in the 80s. He became a manager, according to the biography ‘Messi’ by Guillem Balagué. Before, he had his own football dreams when he played as a neat midfielder in Newell’s youth football until he had to fulfill military service and left the sport aside.
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