After wearing a homemade plastic bag shirt of the renowned Lionel Messi's No.10 and becoming an online sensation, a kid from Afghanistan finally met his idol in 2016.
Murtaza Ahmadi, then a 6-year old, walked with Messi to the pitch in Doha before a soccer friendly between Al Ahli and Barcelona. The 2022 World Cup organizing committee in Qatar organized a friendly.
It was a touching meeting that created headlines all over the world. El Pais then quoted the child: “I feel very happy to have met my hero. It was my dream.”
From a dream to reality, and to a nightmare
It all started with a photograph of Murtaza kicking a ball on a dirt road near his home in the south-west of Kabul province of Ghazni. The boy had "Messi" and the No.10 written on a plastic bag created by Murtaza's elder brother Humayun.
France Presse chose the photo as Photo of The Year and it became viral on social media to the attention of Messi. The Barcelona star sent a shirt and a national jersey from Murtaza and Argentina to UNICEF, taking more pictures with the young sensation.
However, the unforeseen fame of the boy was not completely accepted. After persistent phone threats have been made, Mohammad Arif Ahmadi, Murtaza's father, said that he was afraid that his son may be kidnapped. First, the family moved to the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad but because of the high living costs, they did not settle down there. Then, they were forced to flee their home for the second time, moving to Quetta.
