The photograph of Mortaza Ahmadi, a 5-year-old boy from an impoverished family in the Afghan province of Ghazni, went viral on social media.
When Mortaza began to play football with other kids on the street, he became a die-hard fan of Argentine star Messi.
Since Mortaza's parents live in a poor Afghan village and have no opportunity to get him a real football jersey, the boy bought a white and blue striped plastic bag resembling the Argentinian national team colors and made himself a jersey, writing the name "Messi" and the number "10" on the plastic bag, the boy's father said.
صاحب #پیراهن #پلاستیکی مسی در #افغانستان پیدا شد! او توپ ندارد، ولی #مسی را دوست داردhttps://t.co/0JXkJ9LP8f pic.twitter.com/M2VJ6hMREx
— Tavaana توانا (@Tavaana) 27 января 2016
"Mortaza doesn't have a ball to play football, but he borrows it from his uncle to play football with his friends on the street. My son dreams about meeting his idol and we really hope that one day it will happen," Aref told Sputnik.
The news agency had a chance to speak with the boy himself, who calls himself none other than "Little Messi."
Sputnik: Hi! How are you doing?
Mortaza: Hi! I'm good!
Sputnik: How old are you?
Mortaza: Five! I'm Mortaza Messi, small Messi!
The Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) informed that the official representatives of Messi have contacted them and the two sides are now working on setting up a meeting between the football star and his Afghan fan.
