New Zealand defender Tim Payne has experienced an unexpected surge in popularity, gaining over 1.4 million Instagram followers after an Argentine influencer launched a campaign to promote the World Cup's "least-known" player.
Valen Scarsini, known online as 'elscarso', urged his audience to follow Payne and create content around him. The campaign quickly went viral, boosting Payne's follower count from under 5,000 to 600,000 in a matter of days, and later to 1.4 million.
Payne, 32, plays for Wellington Phoenix and has earned 50 caps for New Zealand. He scored once and assisted four times during the All Whites' World Cup qualifying campaign. New Zealand, the tournament's lowest-ranked team, will face Iran, Egypt, and Belgium in Group G.
In a video response, Payne thanked Scarsini and expressed his gratitude for the support. "It's been a pretty crazy 48 hours," he said. Scarsini previously pulled off a similar stunt for Swiss club FC Balzers.