6-year-old Afghan boy who wore plastic bag Messi shirt refused to leave his idol on pitch

He had to be carried off by the referee.

Belmont Lay | December 14, 2016, 11:25 PM

A young Afghan boy who was photographed in a homemade plastic bag replica of Lionel Messi’s Argentina jersey in January 2016 finally got to meet his idol.

Messi’s biggest-and-youngest fan, six-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi, was identified and tracked down to Afghanistan’s eastern Ghazni province.

Efforts were then made to bring the boy and the Barcelona star together.

The meeting between the two was arranged through the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

A video on Tuesday, Dec. 13, by the organisers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar showed the meeting between the Argentinian and Murtaza finally materialise.

The boy walked out onto the pitch for the Barcelona match against Al Ahli, a friendly in Doha, Qatar.

And Murtaza didn't want to leave his idol as the referee eventually had to carry him off the pitch before the start of the match.

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez all scored in a half-hour of action in Barcelona's 5-3 win.

 

Unwanted attenntion

The boy’s unexpected fame at the start of the year brought about other unwanted attention for him and his family in Afghanistan, their home country which they were fleeing.

Murtaza was only five when he was photographed earlier this year and images of him went viral internationally.

Murtaza’s father, Mohammad Arif Ahmadi, said he feared that his son would be kidnapped.

The family first travelled to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, but could not settle there because of the high cost of living. They later moved to Quetta.

This was after his family received constant telephone threats.

 

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.