KABUL, Afghanistan (Xinhua) — “I like Messi and Messi likes me too,” said football legend Lionel Messi’s young Afghan fan Murtaza Ahmadi, who just received two jerseys from the FC Barcelona global superstar through UNICEF last Thursday was beside himself with joy.

“I know this because as well as signing his name on my jerseys he wrote ‘I love you’,” an excited Murtaza told

Xinhua in an interview on Friday.

“I am overjoyed today and don’t know how to express my happiness. My dream came true, my hero gave me not one, but two signed shirts.”

“My thoughts that Messi likes me as much as I like him were right, because he sent his jerseys for me to change my plastic bag jersey to real ones,” said the five-year-old, beaming with joy.

Murtaza became an instant Internet star last month after his photos dressed in a makeshift Messi jersey fashioned from a blue and white plastic bag were posted on Facebook by his elder brother Hamayon.

Living in a poor village in the mountainous Jaghori district of Ghazni province, Murtaza, who at such a tender age already possesses some of his hero’s silky skills, dreams of becoming a football star like the Argentinian luminary one day.

After the photos of the little fan were posted online, countless Internet users and curious journalists tried to identify the young boy and locate his whereabouts.

Initially, Iraqi television airing the footage of the child claimed that he was from Kurdistan in Iraq.

But among such inquisitive journalists to spot the little Afghan football aficionado was Xinhua reporter Rahmat Alizada — the first to brave the journey to visit the mountainous Jaghori district — and meet Murtaza face to face at his parents’ residence. The industrious reporter’s pictures with the young football sensation soon went viral on social media platforms likeTwitter.

After locating the boy in his home village, Alizada contacted Messi via a fan page on Twitter in a bid to let the Argentine superstar know about Murtaza and his unbelievable admiration for both him and FC Barcelona.

The

Xinhua reporter, also hailed by the international press and global social media users, provided the contact number of Murtaza’s father Arif Ahmadi, to Messi so that the five-time FIFA Ballon d’Or winning star could personally contact him.

The boy, known as ‘Messi-e-Kochak’ (mini-Messi) among villagers and playmates, received two signed shirts printed with Messi’s revered number 10 and a football from the magnanimous star in Kabul.

UNICEF, on behalf of Messi, handed over the gifts to Murtaza.

Expressing gratitude to the football genius for his generosity, Murtaza’s father, Arif told Xinhua his son dreams of meeting Messi in person some day.

The proud father also suggested that the Barcelona camp could help construct a football stadium in Afghanistan to help fans promote the game and peace through the sport in the conflict-ridden country.

The young lad could convey a message of peace to Afghan children through football and to the wider global community, said the proud father.