Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi has finally had his wish come true and received a signed Lionel Messi shirt.
The little Afghan boy captured people's hearts after a picture of him wearing a blue and white striped plastic bag as a football shirt went viral.
Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi with signed Messi Argentina shirt
Messi who is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador saw the images of Murtaza trending on social media and contacted UNICEF to help identify him and make his dream of owning a real shirt come true.
"We can't even imagine buying the original Messi jersey. We just can't afford it so, to make my brother happy, I made a shirt out of that plastic bag for him." said Murtaza's older brother.
Murtaza Ahmadi Gets Real Signed Messi Shirt
The family come from a remote village in the war-torn province of Ghazni in Afghanistan. Murtaza is just one in 43 million children to be trapped in emergencies worldwide.
The Barcelona legend sent the Argentina national team shirt and a FC Barcelona one, both signed with a special message saying “Con mucho cariño, Leo” meaning “With much love, Leo” and also included a signed football with “Leo” written on it.
”I love Messi and my shirt says Messi loves me," Murtaza said, clearly thrilled with his gifts seen in these new pictures taken by Unicef proudly showing off the new signed jerseys and ball.
