KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A young Afghan soccer fan who shot to fame after he was photographed in a Messi shirt made from a plastic bag has been forced to flee with his family to the capital after criminal gangs and the Taliban threatened to kill or kidnap him, his mother said Friday.
Since becoming an internet sensation, Shafiqa Ahmedi said her now 7-year-old son Murtaza — a fan of Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi — has not been able to attend school and now they are living in an unheated room in Kabul.
She said the cold and the damp are making Murtaza sick.