Personal attacks on footballers are nothing new; you are bound to make a lot of enemies in a world as glamorous as this. In some cases, scandalous liaisons rock the footballing world, with prominent players getting caught up in unwanted controversies. Joining the already long list of such players which includes John Terry, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, is the golden boy of global football Lionel Messi.
Over the past one month, the Barcelona star has constantly been in the news for reasons that are less than savoury. From losing a fourth consecutive final with his national team and announcing his retirement from international football, to being slapped with a jail term for tax evasion, it hasn’t been a happy period for the Argentine.
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To add to all that are the latest allegations against him presented by Peruvian model Xoana Gonzalez. In a local TV show titled “The Value of Truth”, Gonzalez was asked a hundred personal questions that were all apparently answered against a polygraph. She shot into the limelight when the questions veered to her supposedly intimate relationship with Messi.
Messi, as is well known, has been in a long-term and committed relationship with his childhood sweetheart Antonella Rocuzzo, with whom he has two sons. But according to Gonzalez, that is all a sham.
The model went into details of her alleged affair with Messi and came up with some insulting comments regarding the time she claims to have spent with him. Cashing in on her famous story, she said, “He is a wimp, because he sent his security to get me. There I noticed that he is very shy. When one plays across the whole pitch, you expect someone to return the favour. I wanted him to show me more than that. At one point I felt like I was with a dead body.”
The interview in question can be seen in the video below.
Messi has never given importance to her claims. He had refused to respond even earlier when she had made a statement of having had a fling with him.
Gonzalez also brought in another prominent name in her series of allegations. She claims that she used to date Marcello Tinelli, an Argentine TV host, and that relationship apparently ended when Tinelli found out about her liaisons with Messi.
Speaking to a local Peruvian newspaper, a friend of Gonzalez’s has corroborated this story. “In the conversation, I read you could tell he had a relationship, things that had happened,” the young man said.
Despite having no backing to her story, Gonzalez has been making such claims that have been doing the rounds in local Argentine media for quite some time now. The possibility of such ludicrous claims being true is quite slim. However, it may be time for Messi to respond, even if it is to sue the concerned party for defamation.
