Afghan Boy Who Went Viral for Plastic Bag Messi Jersey Gets the Real Thing

An Afghan boy who became a viral sensation for playing soccer in a Lionel Messi jersey crafted from a plastic bag has finally been given the real thing.

Messi himself sent Murtaza Ahmadi, 5, an Argentine National Team jersey on Thursday, along with a jersey for his other team, FC Barcelona, and a soccer ball. Messi signed all the items.

Murtaza, who is from the Jaghori District in Ghazni, a province in eastern Afghanistan, was seen in photos and a video published last month wearing his plastic bag jersey and kicking a blue and yellow ball around. Messi's number, 10, and his last name were penned on the jersey. The photographs of Murtaza soon went viral as people attempted to track him down.

"I love Messi, and my shirt says Messi loves me," UNICEF Afghanistan quoted Murtaza as saying on Thursday.

In the original video, Murtaza's father, Arif, says his son "says Messi's name daily" and asked him to find a real shirt with Messi's name on it. While there were tentative plans by the Afghan Football Federation to get Murtaza to meet his idol, no date or time has been set.

Earlier this year, Messi won his fifth FIFA Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) award, an annual prize given to the best male soccer player. He is generally considered one of the top soccer players in history, and in 2015 he scored a goal every 101 minutes, according to the BBC.