Herdboy who melted Ozil’s heart wins bigger football prize
A Kenyan boy pictured tending to a herd of cattle in the streets of Nairobi while wearing a self-inscribed Mesut Ozil Arsenal jersey has been named as the face of player escort program for African Cup of Nations tournament set to kick off in Egypt.
Lawrence Masira is the Visa Players Escort Ambassador for the tournament scheduled for June 21 to July 19 in Egypt.
Alongside his mother, they’ll travel to Egypt for the tournament.
Player escorts walk with the players into the pitch ahead of kickoff.
Lawrence caught the attention of Arsenal midfielder Ozil through a tweet by Kenyan journalist Eric Njiru who spotted him herding cattle.
The tweet read: “I saw this kid today grazing in the streets of Nairobi – a city without real grass for cows. He told me he loves @MesutOzil1088 so much (You can see his shirt). Maybe one day this can reach Ozil and get a real Arsenal shirt.”
The photo went viral across the globe.
Ozil later sent the boy and his friends official Arsenal replica jerseys.
“The picture of the young Kenyan boy with a self-made shirt on Twitter touched me so much. And Look at Lawrence now – it’s so heartwarming to see him and his brothers happy,” Özil tweeted.
The picture of a Kenyan boy with a self made shirt on Twitter touched me so much. ??❤ And look at Lawrence now – it's so heartwarming to see him and his brothers happy??? #SocialMediaPower ?? #HappyToAssist #Nairobi #M1Ö pic.twitter.com/nQWgc0cABt
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) March 11, 2019
Kenya’s Harambee Stars will be playing at the competition as Group C participants alongside Senegal, Algeria and neighbours Tanzania which is set for Egypt from June 21.