Murtaza Ahmadi was 5 years old when his brother Hamayoun uploaded to Facebook a photo that would go around the world: the little boy, in Afghanistan, posed proudly with a blue and white plastic bag on which he had drawn the number 10. His Messi jersey. That image crossed oceans, reached Lionel himself, and the star sent him two signed jerseys and a ball. But the story took a turn no one expected: the boy’s fame attracted kidnapping threats, and the family had to flee from Ghazni to Pakistan to protect him. 💙
On December 13, 2016, in Doha, Qatar, the moment the world had been waiting for happened. Murtaza, now 6 years old, walked onto the field where FC Barcelona was playing a friendly and came face to face with Messi. What he did next says it all: he clung to his legs and did not want to let go. Messi picked him up in his arms, smiled, and the Qatar 2022 World Cup Committee summed it up in a tweet: “The image the world wanted to see”. 🤍
For a boy who improvised a jersey with what he had on hand, that hug was worth more than any trophy. 🏆
