It all started in early 2016, when the world saw photos of a cute 5-year-old Murtaza, who made a football jersey for himself using a plastic bag and wrote Messi’s name on it.
He became so famous that even Lionel Messi found out about him and was so taken by the little fan that he sent him a football and two real jerseys.
In an interview with Sputnik at the time, Murtaza said that he was very pleased with his presents but nevertheless hoped to meet with the legend of football in person someday.
Messi did not forget about his young Afghan friend and Murtaza’s dream came true in December 2016, when he was taken to Doha, Qatar to meet with Messi, who was there for a friendly match between Barcelona and Doha.
Sputnik decided to meet "Mini Messi" and his father to talk about the experience of meeting his hero, Messi, and to know whether the boy is still an avid football fan.
Murtaza and his family now live in the county of Jaghuri in the Afghan province of Ghazni. The boy's father, Mohammad Aref Ahmadi, told Sputnik that Murtaza first saw Lionel Messi on TV during a football match. Since then, the boy has become one of his most ardent fans.
"Every day my son asked me to buy him a T-shirt like Messi's. I decided to fulfill my son's request, but I could not find such a T-shirt at the local market,” Aref said.
Then little Murtaza found a plastic bag with white and blue stripes like the Argentine football jerseys and asked his brother to write the name and number of his favorite player- Messi.
"I did not think that my son would be so happy with a simple plastic bag," Aref said, recalling the event.
The photos of the boy spread on social media and the boy's family was invited to Kabul, where the Afghan Football Federation promised to arrange a meeting with Murtaza’s idol.
There is, however, a sad side to Murtaza’s fame and that is the fact the little boy’s family have been receiving death threats following the meeting with Messi.
As a result, the boy's family was forced to hide in Pakistan but due to the hardships of life in a foreign country the boy's family, despite all the threats had to return home.
Now Aref lives with his 4 sons and 4 daughters in his native district and is worried about the fact that his children cannot attend school.
“Mini Messi" continues to play football with his friends and dreams of becoming a professional football player one day, to play for the Afghan national football team.