Barcelona star Xavi to marry after Confederations Cup
Barcelona star and Spanish national Xavi Hernandez is set to wed his girlfriend of one-and-a-half years, Nuria Cunillera.
Details of the low-key ceremony were revealed to the Catalan media for the first time through friends of the player.
The 33-year-old midfielder, who was shortlisted to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award thrice after winning the World Cup and Euro 2008 with Spain, is set to marry on July 13 after the Confederations Cup in Brazil.
Xavi's nuptials will take place at the local vicinity of Blanes in Girona, Catalonia and will strictly be an intimate affair for 150 of the couple's close family and friends.
According to reports, preparations for the wedding had been kept a secret and none of Xavi's teammates and friends had "any idea he would be tying the knot" until two months ago.
While there was speculation last month that a Barcelona player would "definitely be getting married", the Spanish paparrazzi assumed that the couple in question was Gerard Pique and Shakira.
In Madrid, gossip programmes argued that it would be Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas and his girlfriend, Spanish journalist Sara Carbonero, who would be tying the knot in Ibiza.
However, it has now been confirmed that it is Pique's more private teammate, Xavi, who will be exchanging vows with Nuria, who has also accompanied him to high-profile events such as the Ballon d'Or ceremony in Zurich recently.
Xavi and Nuria are both fiercely protective of their private lives, with the latter shunning the media spotlight.
As a result, it is no surprise that they have not revealed details of the wedding to anyone apart from their close family and friends.
They will spend their honeymoon in the popular luxurious islands of Seychelles before the player reports back to preseason duty with Barcelona on July 29.
Staying on the subject of weddings, Juventus coach Antonio Conte finally married his partner, Elisabetta, at a lavish ceremony in Italy on Sunday.
The couple have a daughter named Victoria together and in an interview with Italian newspapers last year, Conte, 43, revealed that he was lucky to have Elisabetta's support throughout Juventus' match-fixing investigations.
Conte was slapped with a ten-month ban for his failure to report details of two "fixed" Serie A games last September.
"I have yet to marry Elizabeth," he said last year. "We've been together for eight years and our wedding is coming soon. I have a great woman by my side, one who always tries to understand me. As for my daughter, she is the other woman in my life. She is beginning to understand that her dad gets nervous when he does not win (a match)."
