The link between Italy and South America is very close from a sociological point of view. History speaks for itself and emigration from one part of these two corners of the world to the other is a very famous historical phenomenon. It is therefore not surprising that Lionel Messi's family tree has its roots in our country.

He is certainly not the only Argentine, wanting to limit himself to the nationality of the PSG champion, who has become famous in the world of football with Italian origins. In the case of Messi, however, it is necessary to take a step back in time a little deeper. Below we try to better explain the reasons that led San Severino Marche to confer honorary citizenship on him.

Messi is from the Marche region

The link between Lionel Messi and Italy will become official. San Severino Marche will confer honorary citizenship on him, highlighting the roots of his family. A small village of about 10 thousand souls, located in the province of Macerata, which has become famous in recent days following this announcement: Messi is from the Marche region.

A story of emigrants, of course, which sees as protagonist the family of his maternal grandmother, the Mrs. Cuccittini. She grew up in San Severino Marche, to then fly first to Brazil and then to Argentina. She, like her, might have known that her choices of hers, many decades later, would lead to the birth of the second strongest footballer in history (after Maradona).

San Severino Marche
San Severino Marche - Source: Lasagnolo9 CC BY-SA 4.0

The investigations of the case were carried out by Fiorenzo Santini and Gabriele Cipolletta, respectively journalist and sociologist and football enthusiast coach. However, one wonders what surname is Cuccittini. Hard to think that anyone has ever heard such a one in Italy. It seems in fact crippled and so it is. As often happened, upon arrival in South America (as well as in North America), the surname of Messi's maternal grandmother was spelled incorrectly. The correct wording was Coccettini. Here are Santini's words on the matter: “I found the historical certificate of the family who emigrated to Brazil and then to Argentina. It all fits with an Argentine certificate from a cousin of Lionel's mother ”. It is always fantastic to reconstruct these stories of emigrants and find the roots that seem lost. And when at the center there are characters of this depth, national curiosity is inevitable. Certainly someone, from now on, will begin to fantasize about a near future in some Italian team for the Pulce, in honor of his family.

Photo source in evidence: https://www.instagram.com/leomessi/

Messi honorary citizen in the Marche: we discover the origins of the Argentine champion last edit: 2022-03-23T15:30:00+01:00 da Luca Crowned

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