Plastic-shirted Afghan boy to meet Messi in Spain

Martaza Ahmadi, a five-year-old Afghan Lionel Messi fan plays football, at the Afghan Football Federation Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016.  [Photo/IC]

KABUL, Afghanistan - The Afghan Football Federation plans to set up a meeting between Lionel Messi and five-year-old Afghan fan Martaza Ahmadi who became an internet sensation when photos circulated of him wearing an improvised Messi shirt made from a plastic bag.

Afghan federation spokesman Sayed Ali Kazemi said on Tuesday they hope Messi can come to Afghanistan to visit the boy, but otherwise they will arrange to send him to Spain, where Messi plays with Barcelona, or arrange a meeting in a third country.

Pictures of Murtaza Ahmadi playing football near his home in eastern Ghazni province have been widely circulated. They show him wearing the plastic bag - in blue and white stripes like the Argentina national shirt - with Messi 10 written in black marker.

"My greatest desire is to meet with Messi one day, to learn from him and become a star like him," Murtaza said.

With his room adorned with posters of the star, the child known locally as Messi-e-Kochak (junior Messi) gained worldwide fame after photos of him dressed in the makeshift Messi shirt were posted on Facebook by his elder brother Hamayon.

Internet users quickly launched a global search to identify the youngster, and an Iraqi television program initially claimed that the boy was from Kurdistan in Iraq.

However, Murtaza's uncle and some Afghan youths correctly identified one of Messi's youngest fans.

Living with his eight-member family in the remote village of Qambar, about 150 kilometers south of Kabul, Murtaza plays every day with a deflated ball, hoping to fulfill his dreams of becoming a soccer star.

Inspired by Messi's personality and achievements, the boy never misses a match on TV in which the star is playing, according to his father, Arif Ahmadi, 44.

"One day, Murtaza brought home a plastic bag from his uncle's house and asked his brother Hamayon to fashion it into a shirt like Messi's," Ahmadi said.

The brother finally made the shirt with Messi's name scrawled on it in marker pen before posting the photos on Facebook.

Ahmadi said, "It would be amazing if Messi could arrange for my son to meet with him and help him to become a soccer star and, perhaps, build a stadium in our district to promote soccer to other budding young players."

Messi's father, Jorge Messi, said his son is aware of the photos that made waves on social media and "wants to do something" for his young fan.

On Monday, the Afghanistan Football Federation said Messi is keen to meet with Murtaza as soon as possible, although no date or venue has been finalized.

Federation spokesman Sayed Ali Kazemi said, "Messi has been in touch with the federation to set up a meeting with the young boy. "

"We are working to see whether Messi will come to Afghanistan, if the boy will travel to Spain, or if they will meet in a third country."