In Ghazni, Afghanistan, a family had no way to buy Murtaza Ahmadi, just 5 years old, the jersey of his idol. So Hamayoun, his older brother, took plastic bags that a neighbor had thrown away and hand-painted Messi’s name and the number 10 on them.
The photo was uploaded to Facebook without any expectations. But something in that image—the boy’s smile, the improvised jersey, the pure devotion—made it get shared thousands of times until it crossed borders and reached Messi himself.
The footballer sent him signed jerseys and a ball. And in December 2016, before a Barcelona friendly in Doha, Qatar, Murtaza finally shook his idol’s hand. The boy who didn’t have a real jersey ended up hugging the man who wore it.