Look At How Happy The Boy Who Made A Messi Plastic Bag Shirt Is When He Finally Met His Hero
Dreams do come true.
A photo of a little boy wearing a blue and white plastic bag made to resemble Lionel Messi's Argentina jersey was widely shared earlier this year.
People online launched a campaign to find the boy, who BuzzFeed News later identified as 6-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi.
Murtaza was living with his family in a remote village in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan at the time.
He was known in his village as “Messi’s biggest fan” and was often seen playing football on the streets with a rival child who is known as "Ronaldo's biggest fan."
A source close to Messi then told BuzzFeed News in January that Messi wanted to do something special for the boy after seeing the photo and was touched by his creativity in making the replica shirt.
The Afghan Football Association also told Italian newspaper Gazzetta World that it had been in contact with Messi and Barcelona to arrange a meeting, although no date was confirmed.
A few weeks later, UNICEF and Messi sent Murtaza a real, signed shirt.
"I love Messi, and my shirt says Messi loves me," Murtaza said when he received the present.
Messi also donated a number of shirts for Murtaza’s brothers and sisters.
However, things took a turn in May, when boy's family were forced to flee to Pakistan after receiving constant phone threats from the Taliban.
Murtaza's father told the Associated Press the Taliban was questioning why his son was not learning the Qu'ran in an Islamic school and why instead he was allowed and encouraged to play soccer.
“I sold all my belongings and brought my family out of Afghanistan to save my son’s life as well as the lives of the rest of the family,” he said.
Hopes for Murtaza to meet Messi also appeared to have fallen through, as his father told the AP none of the plans had worked out.
That is until yesterday...
Dreams come true 😊😊 The heart-warming meeting of Murtaza Ahmadi and #Messi in Qatar 🔴🔵 #FCBinDoha #ForçaBarça https://t.co/riKC0AAS77
The organisers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar posted a video yesterday that showed Messi holding Murtaza and posing for photographers.
أخيراً مرتضى يلتقي بميسي! اللجنة العليا ساعدت الطفل الأفغاني على تحقيق حلمه في #قطر. #الاهلي_برشلونة
The meeting took place in Doha, Qatar, where Barcelona was playing a friendly against Saudi Arabia's al-Ahli.
According to the tweet, the meeting was arranged through the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
This is brilliant. Messi walking out onto the pitch with the Afghan boy who made a Messi shirt from plastic bag 👐
And it was so damn sweet.
The Aghan boy who made a Messi shirt out of a plastic bag got to be a mascot for #Messi. #FCBinDoha #QatarAirwaysCup
Murtaza got to walk out onto the pitch holding Messi's hand.
Just look at how happy he is.
He was completely awestruck.
And couldn't take his eyes off his hero.
He also had a bit of trouble leaving Messi's side, even when the game was about to begin.
Murtaza refuses to leave Messi's side. His dream finally came true! #QatarAirwaysCup #FCBinDoha
In fact, he had to be escorted off the pitch.
Totally worth it.
He even got to take a photo with the team.
Here it is:
People absolutely loved it.
Tears were involved.
❤️❤️❤️
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Kassy Cho is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in London.
Contact Kassy Cho at kassy.cho@buzzfeed.com.
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