Lionel Messi traveled to his hometown of Rosario for the Christmas holidays with his family and friends, including Uruguay striker Luis Suarez, after winning the FIFA World Cup and enjoying the festivities in his native Argentine.
Argentine media reported on Thursday that Suarez arrived on a private plane from Montevideo, accompanied by his partner Sofia Balbi and their children. He and Messi have had a strong friendship since their Barcelona days.
Millions of enthusiastic Argentines flocked to the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday to greet Messi’s World Cup-winning team on their return from Qatar, as huge crowds hailed the open-top bus for the players.
The players were unable to reach downtown Buenos Aires as planned due to security concerns due to the size of the crowd, estimated by local media to be over five million people. The players were transferred by bus to helicopters before Messi and Angel Di Maria traveled to Rosario.
The Argentina captain is at his home at the Kentucky Country Club and local media reported that several international sports stars were joining the festivities, including former Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta and former Argentina forward Sergio Aguero .
