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Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi from Ghazni, Afghanistan might be Lionel Messi’s biggest fan. Last month, he became famous on social media for his makeshift Messi jersey: a decorated plastic bag. Messi himself took notice and sent the boy an amazing surprise.
His family could not afford a real jersey
Murtaza’s internet-famous jersey was created by his older brother, 15-year-old Homayoun. Homayoun said that his little brother was crazy about the athlete and desperately wanted a Messi jersey.
“My father did not have enough money to buy it,” Homayoun explained.
Their father works as a farmer and does not have that much money to spare. He told Al Jazeera that:
“Murtaza found a plastic bag and ran towards me, asking me to make a jersey out of it for him. We can’t even imagine buying the original Messi jersey. We just can’t afford it so, to make my brother happy, I made a shirt out of that plastic bag for him.”
Homayoun cut the blue and white plastic to fit his little brother and drew the football player’s name and number on it with a marker.
A way to stay happy
Murtaza loved paying tribute to his favorite sports star.
“I love Messi and football. I will meet him one day. I want to become like him,” he declared.
Homayoun shared that playing football is a nice distraction from the constant violence that surrounds them.
“Everyday someone is killed by the brutal Taliban,” he said. “This is our life, always war and violence.”
While no one in their immediate family has been hurt, Homayoun has lost friends to the terrorist group. Football is one of the ways he and his brother try to stay happy.
Messi sent him the real thing
After Murtaza’s pictures went viral, UNICEF Afghanistan sent him a wonderful surprise: two signed Messi jerseys and soccer balls from the Argentine National and FC Barcelona teams.
UNICEF communicated to ABC News that:
“As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Leo Messi believes in the child’s right to play and the transforming power of sport in children’s lives. All the items were signed by Messi himself. Both jerseys carried the message, ‘Con mucho cariño, Leo.'(Translation: “With much love, Leo”). The football was signed ‘Leo.'”
Murtaza was very happy to receive the gifts. “I love Messi and my shirt says Messi loves me,” he told UNICEF. According to Homayoun, the boy has asked his family to only call him Messi. In addition to that wonderful surprise, Murtaza may get a chance to meet his idol in person. The Afghan Football Federation has been contacted by Messi’s management team, who expressed interest in arranging a meeting. There is no date or venue yet however, they could potentially fly the boy to Spain. His father, Mohammad Arif Ahmadi, is overwhelmed by the positive reactions.
“Murtaza can’t hold it. He is so excited by the news of meeting Messi. We don’t know when is it going to happen, but we are humbled by the response we got.”
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