5-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is preparing to meet an Afghan boy who rose to fame on the internet after a picture of him wearing a paper bag jersey with Messi’s name went viral.
The 5-year-old boy, identified as Murtaza Ahmadi, wore a blue and white carrier bag to emulate Messi’s Argentina shirt, with the number 10 inscribed on it. Ever since the photo was uploaded on the internet, online communities made several attempts to track down the youngster and was eventually traced in Jaghori district in the Afghan province of Ghazni.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Monday, the seemingly excited youngster said:
"I love Messi and football. I will meet him one day."
"I want to become like him."
The Afghanistan Football Federation also confirmed that Messi was willing to meet his latest young fan. AFF spokesman Syed Ali Kazemi revealed:
"We've been contacted by Messi's management team and they have expressed their interest in meeting the boy."
"We are doing our best to coordinate their meeting. The date and the venue is still not confirmed yet, but there are chances of Ahmadi flying to Spain to meet his idol."
Speaking about the trending picture of his son in a carrier bag bearing Messi’s name and the iconic shirt number 10, Murtaza’s father said:
"We did not expect that we would get this kind of support from everyone. People from all over the world have been calling me to help get Murtaza a jersey and a football.’’
He added:
"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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