The boy realised one of his biggest dreams when he received team jerseys and an autographed football with a personal message Messi, according to post on the Facebook and instagram page of UNICEF Afghanistan.
Advertisement
“Murtaza couldn’t stop smiling”.
The Ghazni farmer confirmed his son was the boy who captured people’s imaginations worldwide and added that Murtaza was “extremely happy”. He kept repeating: “I love Messi”, UNICEF Afghanistan spokesman Denise Shepherd-Johnson said.
Murtaza Ahmadi travelled with his family from eastern Ghazni province to Kabul to receive the gifts sent by Messi through UNICEF, where he is a goodwill ambassador.
Murtaza had expressed his desire to meet his football hero and Afghan Football Federation among other organizations had promised to fulfill his dream at a appropriate time.
Photos of Murtaza went viral last month when he was pictured dressed in a makeshift plastic bag jersey with the Ballon D’or winner’s name scrawled on the back in blue pen.
“I love Messi – I love him very much”, Murtaza told CNN from the family’s farm in Jaghori, southwest of Kabul.
“Murtaza can’t hold it. He is so excited by the news of meeting Messi”.
Setting up a meeting in Afghanistan, in the grip of a fierce Taliban insurgency, is fraught with security challenges.
Sport was rarely played under Taleban rule, and the football stadium in Kabul was a notorious venue for executions, stonings and mutilations.
Advertisement
The football – also signed – represents the United Nations charity’s belief that the “right to play and practise sports promotes the well-being of all children, especially the most vulnerable trapped in emergencies around the world”.
