SYDNEY.- His name probably doesn’t mean anything to most football fans, but the New Zealander Tim Payne He has seen his fame grow rapidly on the networks after an influencer described him as the “least known” footballer in the world. World.
The Argentine social media star Valen Scarsiniknown as “The Scarso”last week asked his followers to boost the Instagram account of the unknown Payne, who then barely had 4,000 followers.
The demand from the popular Argentine influencer triggered interest in this New Zealand full-back, who a week later has four million followers on Instagram.
The selector of New Zealand said that the unexpected fame will not go to the head of the modest footballer of the Wellington Phoenix.
“At the moment I see that he is handling it very well, probably better than others would,” he said. Darren Bazeley to stuff.co.nz.
Payne, 32, who described what he is experiencing as “madness,” does not rule out meeting his “discoverer.”
Scarsini said he would travel to Florida to watch the friendly match New Zealand against Haiti in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday.
“Guys, tomorrow is the day,” Scarsini posted. “We are going to watch Tim’s game against Haiti and then we are going to get to know him. Thanks to everyone who made it possible,” explained the Argentine.
Payne’s new celebrity status means he now has a million more followers than All Blacksthe rugby team of a country obsessed with that sport.
From 4,000 to 4 million followers
It is also the topic of conversation at the New Zealand team’s concentration for the World in Florida. “The players talk about it. I can hear the jokes they make with Tim and I think it’s incredible,” Bazeley said.
“Putting Tim in the spotlight like this is really cool and probably wasn’t something he, or anyone, expected,” the coach added.
Another million followers would make Payne have as many followers as the population of New Zealand, which is around 5.3 million.
New Zealand It is the worst ranked selection on the list of the FIFA of the Worldwhich will begin next week in Mexico, USA and Canada.
Ironic comments on the Internet have begun to compare Payne to the best players in Argentinathree-time world champion: “(Lionel) Messi, (Diego) Maradona, Tim,” said one of the more than 66,000 comments on Payne’s latest publication, many of them in Spanish, which also received 2.1 million likes.
