A then five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi experienced the happiest day of his life in December 2016 when he entered the Doha soccer stadium hand in hand with his hero, Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi came to know Murtaza through a photo of Murtaza kicking a ball in a shirt made of nothing but a plastic bag made of Argentina's blue and white colors, with "Messi" and "10" penned on the shirt. The photo went viral and grabbed world headlines. France Presse subsequently chose the image as Photo of the Year. Messi saw the picture and sent Murtaza signed Barcelona and Argentina national jerseys. Murtaza, now seven, was invited by the organizers of the Qatar 2022 World Cup to meet Messi in person at a friendly match between Barcelona and Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia. Murtaza fulfilled his dream but the fame came at a steep price. His family, being members of the Hazara ethnic minority from Jaghori district in the central province of Ghazni, was persecuted by the Taliban.
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