The mystery of a boy pictured wearing a homemade Lionel Messi football shirt – improvised from a blue-and-white striped plastic bag – has finally been solved. The young fan in a photograph that spread on social media has been identified as Murtaza Ahmadi, a five-year-old boy who lives in a Taliban-controlled area of Afghanistan.

Murtaza had no idea he had become an Internet sensation after his elder brother, Homayoun, 15, posted the photographs on Facebook two weeks ago. Thousands of amateur sleuths trawled through picture archives trying to find the boy, as offers flooded in of real football shirts.

Murtaza, whose father admitted he could not afford to buy him a replica jersey, said he had only a punctured ball to play with in his village in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. “I love Messi, he plays well, the shirt was made by my brother and I liked it very much,” he said after being tracked down by the AFP news agency. “We do not have a football playground near our house, and the only ball I have is punctured. I want to be like Messi, when I grow up.”

The shirt was made by his brother, from a plastic bag with Messi’s name and number written on with marker pen. Internet detectives initially believed the boy in the pictures was an Iraqi Kurd before Murtaza’s uncle Azim Ahamdi, who lives in Australia, posted pictures of his nephew and said he was the unwitting star of the story.

The family, who live in a remote rural area, only learnt about Murtaza’s newfound fame from relatives when Murtaza’s father’s visited the Afghan capital Kabul. He told AFP he had high hopes for his son.

“He asked me to buy him a Messi jersey but I am a farmer and could not afford it,” Mohammad Arif Ahamdi, a father of six, said. “Murtaza wants to meet Lionel Messi in person one day. I want my son to become a good football player in the future and become the Messi of Afghanistan.”

Football is hugely popular in Afghanistan although the national stadium in Kabul was used as a venue for executions during the years of Taliban rule until 2001.

source: telegraph.co.uk

The 10 most popular footballers in the world in 2013

Who are the 10 most popular footballers in the world?

We wanted to find out, once and for all, so we hatched a plan to find out which footballers have the biggest legion of fans. If there’s anything MySpace taught us, it’s that the more friends you have on social media, the cooler you are in real life. Right? So we’ve teamed up with Starcount, who monitor celebrities and sport stars across a range of social media platforms, and we’ve come up with a list of the top 10 most popular footballers of 2013. We’ve also given you an idea of how they have managed to gain their followers, which social media platforms they are most popular on, and in which countries they are particularly popular.

10. Robin Van Persie

2012-13 Premier League top scorer expanded his online fan base by over 5 million.

9. Kaká

Rossoneri legend Kaká has recaptured his form this year having returned to the San Siro and continued to impress online with the Brazilian midfield ace scoring 5 million fans on Twitter and Facebook.

8. Wayne Rooney

The Premier League’s most popular footballer in 2013 was also one of the most popular in the Far-East after Wayne Rooney was joined by 2 million new fans on Chinese network Sina.

7. Ronaldinho

The two time World Player of the Year Ronaldinho was a hit on Facebook this year as 4.5 million new fans liked the midfielder as he continues to work his magic for Atlético Mineiro.

6. Mesut Özil

Expanding his Instagram following by nearly half a million, Arsenal’s new midfield talisman Mesut Özil has certainly stolen the heart of the red side of North London.

5. Lionel Messi

2013 saw Messi net his 300^th Barcelona goal, score 19 consecutive goals in La Liga and double his number of Twitter followers to 420,000.

4. Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale was one of the most followed footballers on Instagram after 1.7 million new fans joined the Welshman following his world-record move to Real Madrid.

3. David Beckham

Despite retiring from the professional game after a stint at Paris Saint-Germain, England favourite David Beckham gained twice as many followers in China as anyone else in 2013.

2. Neymar Jr.

After lighting up the Confederations Cup this summer, Barcelona new boy Neymar has soared online with 8 million new Facebook fans – more than Catalan teammates Iniesta and Puyol combined.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Current La Liga top scorer and Ballon d’Or front runner Cristiano Ronaldo is the Golden Boot on social media after he gained 20 million fans across five networks.

source: www.mirror.co.uk 

to hatch a plan – tervet kieszelni
social media – közösségi oldalak
to team up with – összeállni valakivel
to gain – szerezni
follower – követő
Premier League – Angol labdarúgó-bajnokság
scorer – gólszerző
to impress someone – lenyűgözni valakit
midfield – középpálya
ace – ász
two time – kétszeres
to steal the heart of – belopja magát valaki szívébe
consecutive – egymásutáni
La Liga – Spanyol labdarúgó-bajnokság
despite – valami ellenére
to retire – visszavonulni, nyugdíjba menni
stint – időszak
to soar – szárnyalni
teammate – csapattárs
combined – összesítve
Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) – Aranylabda díj
Golden Boot – Aranycipő díj

Fill in the gaps with the right word. There is one extra.

1. Sportsmen usually ……………….. early.
2. I need the figures for the two months ……………….. .
3. The national team managed to ……………….. new supporters during the championship.
4. I ……………….. some friends and started a new business.
5. Puskás was the best ……………….. and was awarded the Ballon d’Or in 1954.

answers: 1-retire 2-combined 3-gain 4-teamed up with 5-scorer

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