The Afghan boy who became an online hit after wearing a homemade shirt bearing Lionel Messi's famous number 10 has finally received the real thing, from the Argentine footballer himself. Messi's management team confirmed on Thursday that Murtaza was sent a signed Argentina shirt and football from the Barcelona forward, who has been crowned the world's best player five times.
"I love Messi and my shirt says Messi loves me," Murtaza said - already perfecting his own goal celebration.
The online search for the boy was sparked by a single photo that went viral, showing him wearing the homemade shirt made from a striped blue plastic bag, imitating the famous Argentina strip. Murtaza was finally identified as the boy in the picture after his uncle, Azim Ahmadi, an Afghan living in Australia, put BBC Trending in touch with his brother, Arif - the young devoted Messi fan's father. The Ghazni farmer confirmed his son was the boy who captured people's imaginations worldwide and added that Murtaza was "extremely happy".
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| The improvised jersey that went viral |
Messi is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef) and the agency helped to get the shirt to the boy, posting the picture of Murtaza on its Facebook page.
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