Lionel Messi’s kind gesture brings joy to an Afghan child’s dream.
This young child’s inspiring story captivated people worldwide, and now Murtaza Ahmadi may be getting closer to realizing his dream of meeting his idol, Lionel Messi. The boy, who was spotted wearing a striped plastic bag with Messi’s name and number written in blue ink, has been located.
Ahmadi expressed his concern, stating that he would feel disappointed if his son misses the opportunity to meet Messi, as his son has a profound admiration for him.
Arif shared that it was one of the most joyous occasions in the life of the five-year-old child.
However, Arif mentioned that Murtaza, undeterred by the situation, has been consistently wearing one of the shirts and playing with the football ever since the gifts arrived.
“I have a deep admiration for Messi, and my shirt proudly declares that Messi reciprocates the love,” Murtaza expressed, as quoted by UNICEF.
Earlier this month, the Afghan Football Federation informed CNN that Messi’s philanthropic foundation was making efforts to arrange a meeting between the seven-time world player of the year and Murtaza.
When asked about his sudden rise to fame on the internet, Murtaza, speaking to CNN from his family’s farm in Jaghori, southwest of Kabul, replied, “Now the whole world knows me.”
His father, who expressed how the global coverage about his son had “inspired him,” shared that his own dream was to have a football stadium in their district.
He explained that the idea of the plastic bag jersey came about when he had to explain to his son “that we lived in a humble village far from the city, and it was impossible for me to obtain the shirt for him.”
Arif further mentioned, “For several days, he was in tears, persistently requesting the shirt until his brother Hamayon assisted him in creating one from a plastic bag just to bring him joy. After wearing that makeshift plastic bag shirt, he stopped crying.”
In mid-April, online users initiated a search for the unidentified boy after a Messi fan account on Twitter shared a picture of him wearing the plastic bag Messi shirt.
The photograph depicted him solely from the back, a young boy with a short haircut donning a brown knitted sweater. The accompanying caption stated, “A kid in Iraq…” and featured a heartbreak emoji.
However, it was later revealed that the reference to Iraq was untrue. The Twitter user who initially claimed that the boy was from the city of Dohuk in northern Iraq admitted to fabricating the information.
Additionally, the claims made by a television station in Kurdistan asserting that they had located the boy in Dohuk were also proven to be false.
“I am incredibly joyful that he has gained fame,” expressed Arif. “He is genuinely thrilled to see his pictures spreading everywhere. His aspiration is to become a football player in the future and attend school.”
The program, now in its 10th year, has positively impacted over one million children in Angola, Brazil, China, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, and Swaziland. The newly established four-year agreement will witness Barcelona increasing its annual contribution from €1.5 million (£1.65 million) to €2 million.
