Why this random A-League battler has become a World Cup meme
Pasadena: Until just a few days ago, what Tim Payne was most famous for was his shirtless, alcohol-fueled joyride in a golf cart around Sydney’s northern beaches.
This was during the first wave of COVID-19 in March 2020, when his club, Wellington Phoenix, had to self-isolate at the Sydney Sports Academy in Narrabeen. Instead, he was “drunk as a lord”, in the words of the judge who banned him from driving in NSW for six months.
Wait until his new followers find out HE.
Payne’s a share new followers. It has two million, to be exact, and counting from 4,500 people on Instagram. This sudden growth was fueled by an Argentinian phenom who has made him one of the most talked about players in the game. Really.
It all started on Tuesday Argentinian digital creator Valen ScarsiniHe began searching for the “least known footballer” of the World Cup, with the aim of “finding a player who unites us all, regardless of nationality”.
He somehow settled on Payne, a 32-year-old right-back who plays for Phoenix and the New Zealand national team, with whom he has won 50 caps.
Scarsini appears to have found his target based on Payne’s modest Instagram presence, urging his own followers (1.6 million in all) to get behind the unfashionable Kiwi.
“We need to start talking about Tim Payne everywhere… We need to make videos that fuel the Tim Payne myth. We need to put Tim Payne on everyone’s lips,” he said. “Our goal before the World Cup is to see how many people know Tim Payne before the Cup starts.”
Okay, mission accomplished. The majority are official accounts of various brands, including the All Blacks and the FIFA World Cup. A new Tim Payne fan even created a tribute song.
This is a textbook example of the power of social media and the incredible influence it has, especially for those with large accounts.
Payne’s head is still spinning. “One afternoon I started getting a few random notifications,” he said in a video released by New Zealand Football.
“Then I looked at my Instagram account and noticed that someone had tagged me in a video and it was obvious that it was in Spanish… My Spanish is not very good, so I forwarded this to my lady who speaks Spanish fluently and could tell me what she said.
“When I woke up the next morning, there were hundreds of thousands of followers here, so yeah, that’s pretty crazy. As anyone can probably tell, I don’t have a huge following on social media, so it’s a little weird for me that this happened.”
“At the same time I try to embrace it all… and I laugh a little bit, I joke a little bit. I think it’s come from a great place in terms of how positive it is. “Probably this time last week I was quietly coming into camp to prepare for the World Cup and now millions of people from multiple countries are following my Instagram, my journey and the journey of New Zealand football as a whole.
“Hopefully as a team and as a nation we can make all these people proud and find something to cheer them on.”
