WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand defender Tim Payne has become an unlikely soccer superstar after an influencer from Argentina called on his followers to unite and make the little-known 32-year-old Payne a “hero” of the upcoming World Cup.El Scarso, a soccer influencer also known as Valen Scarsini, identified Payne as the least-known player at the World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico based on his small social media following.Payne had around 4,700 followers on Instagram earlier this week. After being singled out by El Scarso that number has risen at a rate of almost 1,000 per minute to more than a million by Friday.Payne’s following is now six times greater than New Zealand’s captain and best-known player, Nottingham Forest forward Chris Wood.“There are only a few days left before the World Cup starts and we are all waiting to cheer for our national team, but what if there was a player who united us all, a footballer we all support regardless of their nationality?” Scarsini said.
“I searched through all the national teams playing in the World Cup for the least known one and after analyzing them one by one I found him. In group G, in New Zealand, there is Tim Payne. He really is the least known. He doesn’t even have 5,000 followers.”
