A boy, whose photo wearing a Lionel Messi shirt made of a plastic bag had gone viral on social media recently, has been identified as Murtaza Ahmadi from Ghazni province in Afghanistan.
The five-year-old Afghan boy was pictured wearing a blue and white striped Argentina shirt that was made out of a plastic grocery bag with the Barcelona legend’s name and number scribbled on the back. Following which he was termed as Messi’s ‘biggest fan’ on the internet.
According to BBC Trending, Murtaza’s uncle Azim Ahmadi, who has been living in Australia, claimed that the boy was his nephew living in a rural area in Jaghori district of Ghazni province.
Azim even got in touch with the boy’s father Arif, who confirmed that Murtaza is the boy that the social media across the globe is talking about.
“This little kid really loves Messi and football. It is not possible for us to buy [a jersey] for him. Because I am a simple farmer. So the kids decided to use the plastic,” Arif said.
Murtaza knows that he is famous now and is “extremely happy” about it.
“My younger son is also hoping that foreign countries help us meet Messi and if we could be good football players like him in the future,” Arif said.
Messi is said to be keen to give his youngest and now popular fan a real playing shirt.
