A young Afghan boy pictured wearing a makeshift Lionel Messi jersey made out of a plastic bag has said he is excited after the Barcelona star expressed an interest in meeting him.
Murtaza Ahmadi shot to Internet fame after photographs of him dressed in the blue-and-white top with Messi's name written on it went viral last month, prompting people to try and track him down.
"I love Messi and football. I will meet him one day," the five-year-old told Al Jazeera on Monday.
"I want to become like him (Messi)," added Ahmadi, who lives in the Jaghori district in the Afghan province of Ghazni.
On Monday, the Afghan Football Federation (AFF) confirmed that Ahmadi will now get a chance to meet his football hero.
"We've been contacted by Messi's management team and they have expressed their interest in meeting the boy," AFF spokesman, Syed Ali Kazemi, told Al Jazeera.
"We are doing our best to coordinate their meeting. The date and the venue is still not confirmed yet, but there are chances of Ahmadi flying to Spain to meet his idol (Messi)."
Kazemi added that "the passion that Murtaza carries for football, we will do everything in our capacity to train him to be a part of our Afghanistan football team".
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