The Little Afghan Boy Who Wore a Plastic Bag Messi Jersey Finally Got A Real One

Back in January a photo went viral after a small boy was seen wearing a blue and white striped plastic bag with “Messi” and “10” written on it with permanent marker, the name and number of arguably the best soccer player in the world, Lionel Messi. The photo sparked a search around the world in hopes to find the boy and give him a proper jersey.

Due to the story hitting airwaves the world over, the player himself even found out about the picture and wanted to set up a meeting between the 5-year-old super fan, later identified as Murtaza Ahmadi.

While Ahmadi has yet to meet his hero, it looks like the first part of his present has arrived.

UNICEF and Messi sent a signed jersey to the boy early Thursday morning.

Messi, who has done work with UNICEF in the past, even included some extra jerseys for Ahmadi’s brothers and sisters.

The Afghan Football Federation is still hoping to arrange a meeting with Messi and Ahmadi in Barcelona sometime in the future so that the boy can meet his hero.

Even though Ahmadi now has the real jersey, it doesn’t look like he will part with his original plastic bag jersey anytime soon. Ahmadi, who also was given a full Barcelona uniform, can be seen wearing the Messi “jersey” over the Barcelona gear with pride.

Upon receiving the signed jersey Ahmadi said, “I love Messi and my shirt says Messi loves me.”