{"id":14316,"date":"2016-02-26T16:43:17","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T16:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=14316"},"modified":"2016-02-26T16:47:46","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T16:47:46","slug":"messi-fan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan","title":{"rendered":"Messi Sends A Signed Shirt To His Afghan Fan Who Once Wore A Homemade Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p>Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi from Ghazni, Afghanistan might be Lionel Messi\u2019s biggest fan. Last month, he\u00a0became famous on social media for his makeshift Messi jersey: a decorated plastic bag. Messi himself took notice and sent the boy an amazing surprise.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>His family could not afford a real jersey<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Murtaza\u2019s 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. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;My father did not have enough money to buy it,&#8221; Homayoun explained.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their father works as a farmer and does not have that much money to spare.\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2016\/02\/messi-sends-afghan-plastic-shirt-boy-signed-shirt-160225111707688.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He told Al Jazeera <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">that:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;Murtaza found a plastic bag and ran towards me, asking me to make a jersey out of it for him. We can&#8217;t even imagine buying the original Messi jersey. We just can&#8217;t afford it so, to make my brother happy, I made a shirt out of that plastic bag for him.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Homa<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">youn cut the blue and white plastic to fit his little brother and drew the football player\u2019s name and number on it with a marker.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14319\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14319\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14319\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/145433388162283.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/145433388162283.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/145433388162283-600x357.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/145433388162283-150x90.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/145433388162283-85x51.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14319\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rti.org.tw\/upload\/material\/145433388162283.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>A way to stay happy<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Murtaza loved paying tribute to his favorite sports star.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;I love Messi and football. I will meet him one day. I want to become like him,\u201d he declared.<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Homayoun shared that playing football is a nice distraction from the constant violence that surrounds them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;Everyday someone is killed by the brutal Taliban,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is our life, always war and violence.&#8221;\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">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.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14320\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14320\" style=\"width: 714px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-14320\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/aa02383275844734be80e4700c8db349_18.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"714\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/aa02383275844734be80e4700c8db349_18.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/aa02383275844734be80e4700c8db349_18-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/aa02383275844734be80e4700c8db349_18-85x48.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 714px) 100vw, 714px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14320\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/echo24.cz\/img\/56b08310e4b0bf1400b5c919\/940\/500\/FIT?_sig=vzHbj-d_t2v2S6XV9lGJSE5dLRU1ZQZO6j9nGWOhyog\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Messi sent him the real thing<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After Murtaza\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/soccer-star-jersey-afghan-boy-plastic-messi-shirt\/story?id=37193468\">UNICEF communicated to ABC News that:<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Leo Messi believes in the child&#8217;s right to play and the transforming power of sport in children&#8217;s lives. All the items were signed by Messi himself. Both jerseys carried the message, &#8216;Con mucho cari\u00f1o, Leo.'(Translation: \u201cWith much love, Leo\u201d). The football was signed &#8216;Leo.'&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Murtaza was very happy to receive the gifts.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>&#8220;I love Messi and my shirt says Messi loves me,&#8221;<\/em> 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&#8217;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.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;Murtaza can&#8217;t hold it. He is so excited by the news of meeting Messi. We don&#8217;t know when is it going to happen, but we are humbled by the response we got.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14321\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14321\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14321\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/ccds7wguyai7che.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/ccds7wguyai7che.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/ccds7wguyai7che-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/ccds7wguyai7che-85x57.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14321\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CcDs7wGUYAI7CHe.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-award\">SEE ALSO:\u00a0Lionel Messi Achieved Something That No Other Football Player Did.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi from Ghazni, Afghanistan might be Lionel Messi\u2019s biggest fan. Last month, he\u00a0became<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":14321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Messi Sends A Signed Shirt To His Afghan Fan Who Once Wore A Homemade Jersey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;The boy has asked his family to only call him Messi.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Messi Sends A Signed Shirt To His Afghan Fan Who Once Wore A Homemade Jersey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;The boy has asked his family to only call him Messi.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afrizap World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfriZapMedia?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-26T16:43:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-26T16:47:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/ccds7wguyai7che.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Afrizap\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Afrizap\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan\",\"name\":\"Messi Sends A Signed Shirt To His Afghan Fan Who Once Wore A Homemade Jersey\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-26T16:43:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-26T16:47:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e7b2edee11807795d4eaa5ec8a2235bb\"},\"description\":\"\\\"The boy has asked his family to only call him Messi.\\\"\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Afrizap World\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e7b2edee11807795d4eaa5ec8a2235bb\",\"name\":\"Afrizap\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5eb515581c44997d055bb0228dbc93bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5eb515581c44997d055bb0228dbc93bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Afrizap\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/author\/buzzer\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Messi Sends A Signed Shirt To His Afghan Fan Who Once Wore A Homemade Jersey","description":"\"The boy has asked his family to only call him Messi.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Messi Sends A Signed Shirt To His Afghan Fan Who Once Wore A Homemade Jersey","og_description":"\"The boy has asked his family to only call him Messi.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan","og_site_name":"Afrizap World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfriZapMedia?ref=bookmarks","article_published_time":"2016-02-26T16:43:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-26T16:47:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":467,"url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/02\/ccds7wguyai7che.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Afrizap","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Afrizap","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan","url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan","name":"Messi Sends A Signed Shirt To His Afghan Fan Who Once Wore A Homemade Jersey","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-26T16:43:17+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-26T16:47:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e7b2edee11807795d4eaa5ec8a2235bb"},"description":"\"The boy has asked his family to only call him Messi.\"","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/messi-fan"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/","name":"Afrizap World","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e7b2edee11807795d4eaa5ec8a2235bb","name":"Afrizap","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5eb515581c44997d055bb0228dbc93bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5eb515581c44997d055bb0228dbc93bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Afrizap"},"url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/author\/buzzer"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14316"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14328,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14316\/revisions\/14328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}