Early this year, an Afghan boy was trending on the Internet for wearing a plastic bag kit of his favorite football player, Lionel Messi. And several months later, Murtaza Ahmadi finally gets to meet his idol up close and personal.
Murtaza Ahmadi went viral in January this year after he was spotted wearing a kit made out of a blue and white striped plastic bag fashioned in the style of Lionel Messi's.
Young Lionel Messi fan wearing plastic bag jersey found in Afghanistan @cnnsport https://t.co/gd3ICpm9bd #soccernews pic.twitter.com/i0a4NrBWzb
— OAS Staff FCU (@OASFCU) February 1, 2016
The internet sensation reached all the way to Barcelona and Lionel Messi sent the six-year old boy the real thing, complete with a ball and signed jerseys of Barcelona and the Argentine team.
Murtaza has the real thing now! #LeoMessi helped make his dream come true & gave him signed jerseys & a football. pic.twitter.com/ls6nUOdaBL — UNICEF Afghanistan (@UNICEFAfg) February 25, 2016
There was a promise for Murtaza to meet Lionel Messi as Barca representatives and the Afghanistan Football Federation met together to see how it would work out, but unfortunately, things didn't happen.
Despite not initially meeting Lionel Messi , Murtaza's life would be changed for both better and worse. His family received death threats from the Taliban after the six year old kid became a viral sensation and they decided to flee from Afghanistan and relocate to Pakistan instead.
Barcelona landed in Qatar on Tuesday for a friendly against Saudi Arabia's Ah Ahli. Murtaza finally met his idol in Doha, Qatar before the match, thanks to Qatar's 2022 World Cup organizers. The kid was also given the honor to bring out the ball at the center of the pitch before the start of the game. He refused to leave Lionel Messi's side and held on to his hand before he was finally carried by the referee and escorted from the pitch.
Murtaza professed his happiness for meeting Lionel Messi according to a statement released by the 2022 World Cup committee. "I'm very happy to have met my hero. It is a dream for me."
Watch Lionel Messi and Murtaza Ahmadi's heartwarming meeting here:
