Tim Payne couldn’t wait to give Valen Scarsini a big hug and tell him thanks a million.Nearly 5 million, actually. New social media followers, that is.The New Zealand defender met the influencer and content creator from Argentina on Wednesday after Scarsini — known as “El Scarso” — asked his fans last week to help kick up support for the soccer standout while calling him the “least-known” player at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico based on his small social media following.Well, since that request, the 32-year-old Payne went from just under 5,000 followers on Instagram to more than 5 million, making him a viral sensation.Scarsini watched Payne’s New Zealand squad — known as the All Whites — lose 4-0 to Haiti in a friendly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Tuesday night. The next morning, the social media influencer met Payne at the team hotel in Boca Raton.
“My friend!” Scarsini shouted as he walked through a door and saw Payne. “How are you?” “I’m good, bro, yourself?” asked a smiling Payne as he gave him a big hug. “Lovely to meet you.”Payne also said, “Cómo estás?” — Spanish for “How are you?” — and then jokingly told Scarsini that’s basically the extent of his Spanish vocabulary.
