WHEN LITTLE AHMADI MET LIONEL MESSI

A year ago, the world fell head over heels upon photographs that had made their way to the Internet from Jaghori district of Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

5- year- old Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi was photographed wearing a Lionel Messi jersey made out of a plastic bag an year ago in Jaghori district of Afghanistan.
Source: AFP

The pictures had shown a 5- year- old Afghan boy wearing an offhand Lionel Messi jersey made out of a plastic bag, with the number  10 and the name “Messi” crudely scribbled over blue and white stripes resembling  the Argentina national team jersey. Quickly becoming an internet sensation, 5- year- old Murtaza Ahmadi had then finally caught the attention of Lionel Messi himself, who had then been generous enough to send signed Barcelona and Argentina jerseys to the little boy.

And now, a year later, the little fan finally met the man he adored.

As FC Barcelona arrived in the city of Doha to contest in a friendly match against Saudi champions Al- Ahli on Tuesday, the organising committee of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar made sure that the little Afghan boy and his hero be united before the eyes of the world.

Earlier in May, Murtaza’s father had said that following constant threats over the telephone and amid fears of his little boy being kidnapped, the family had been forced to leave Afghanistan. They had then moved and settled in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

Outliving all those miseries, however, Murtaza Ahmadi and his family finally found happiness to rejoice in as five- time world player of the year, Lionel Messi held little Murtaza’s hands in his, and walked with him onto the field. Wearing the FC Barcelona jersey, Murtaza held on tight to his hero, reluctant to let go, while the Argentine smiled widely at his childish frolics and lovingly patted his head. The duo parted only when the time of kick- off arrived and Murtaza was carried off the pitch by a smiling official.

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi finally meets his idol Lionel Messi
Source: AFP 

Murtaza poses with the FC Barcelona team prior to their kick- off
Source: AFP

Lionel Messi spends some minutes on the pitch with Murtaza before kicking off for the friendly in Doha
Source: AFP

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi holds tight to Lionel Messi before a friendly in Doha
Source: Instagram

FC Barcelona went on to win the friendly with a score of 5- 3 with goals from Messi, Suarez and Neymar cementing the win over Al- Ahli.

Besides, the meeting between Lionel Messi and Murtaza Ahmadi is said to have come in the wake of Qatar's initiative in introducing much anticipated reforms to the state's policies that govern its major foreign labour force, which according to labour and human rights activists are susceptible to abuse by the current system. Qatar has stated that it is abolishing the "kafala" system that binds workers to their employer. Rights group, however, say that the amendments do not suffice to protect a majority of mostly Asian low-wage workers transforming the tiny country.