Cast your minds back to the early weeks of 2016, and you’ll almost certainly remember the story of little Murtaza Ahmadi.
The then five-year-old was pictured wearing an Argentina shirt which had been fashioned out of a blue and white striped plastic bag – with Lionel Messi’s name and number scrawled on the back in marker pen.
Kid in warzone wearing a plastic bag w/ Messi written on it. Hope it reaches to @FCBarcelona & they send him a shirt pic.twitter.com/I567SRrB7a
— . (@xJude22) January 16, 2016
At the time little was known about Murtaza but, as his picture swept across social media, a search began to identify the youngster. Eventually he was traced to Afghanistan – not Iraq, as some originally presumed.
“He (Murtaza) asked me many times to buy a Messi shirt,” his father Arif said at the time. “I couldn’t provide this for him. Later, his brother made him this plastic shirt and posted his photo on Facebook.”
Weeks later, Murtaza was pictured wearing a replica Lionel Messi Barcelona kit and it was reported that plans were being made for the boy to meet his hero.
With Barcelona visiting Qatar this week, Murtaza – who has since turned six – has finally met the Argentine superstar.
وآخيرا قابل الطفل ذو الست سنوات مرتضي آحمدي ميسي. #الاهلي_برشلونة pic.twitter.com/Xj8hT3yJb1
— كأس آسيا تحت 23 سنة AFC قطر 2024 (@Qatar2023) December 13, 2016
The videos below show him meeting Messi at an event in Qatar’s capital, Doha.
Murtaza meets #Messi in Doha: the SC makes Afghan boy’s dream come true.. #الاهلي_برشلونة #FCBinDoha #littlemessi pic.twitter.com/sJiHwUUuVf
— كأس آسيا تحت 23 سنة AFC قطر 2024 (@Qatar2023) December 13, 2016
The image the world wanted to see. The six year old boy who dreamed of meeting his hero, #Messi, finally comes true. #FCBinDoha pic.twitter.com/58FWn17b9A
— كأس آسيا تحت 23 سنة AFC قطر 2024 (@Qatar2023) December 13, 2016
On Tuesday, Messi and his teammates will face Saudi Arabian Al-Ahli in the Qatar Airways Cup Match of Champions – which sounds so much better than ‘pointless friendly’. The 18,000 capacity Al Gharaffa Stadium is sold out for the match.
Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live:
