Fifa World Cup: Tim Payne reflects on fame after Instagram followers hit 2.3 million
All Whites defender Tim Payne has reflected on his newfound social media fame, with his Instagram account now having over 2.3 million followers.
The 32-year-old’s social media following has grown into the millions thanks to Argentine football content creator El Scarso, whose real name is Valen Scarsini, after he encouraged fans to make the “least known” player at the Fifa World Cup its “main character”.
Payne said he asked his partner why he had so many notifications popping up from Spanish-speaking accounts.
“One afternoon, [I] just started getting a few random notifications and then looked on my Instagram and noticed that someone had tagged me in a video,” Payne said.
“And it was obviously in Spanish and my Spanish isn’t very great, so I passed it on to my missus, who is fluent in Spanish and she was able to let me know what it was saying.
“And then I think by the time I woke up the next morning there was hundreds of thousands of followers, so yeah, it was pretty crazy.”
The Wellington Phoenix veteran said he’s still trying to process all the attention.
“I think probably as everyone can tell, I’m not massive on social media, so for that to happen is a bit strange for me.
“I think at the same time I’m trying to embrace it all, I think it’s hard, I’m trying to process it all ... and have a bit of a laugh and a bit of banter with it.
“I think it’s come from a cool place in terms of how positive it’s been.”
Speaking after the All Whites’ Friday training session in Florida before their friendlies against Haiti and England, Payne said the extra following will help to boost the entire team as they prepare to play their first Fifa World Cup in 16 years.
“This time last week I was coming into camp just trying to prepare for a World Cup, quietly coming into camp preparing for a World Cup and now I’ve got millions of people from multiple countries following my Instagram and following I guess my journey and New Zealand football’s journey as a whole.
“So, on the whole I hope that we as a team and a nation can make all those people proud and have something for them to cheer.”
New Zealand kick off their World Cup campaign against Iran on June 16 at 1pm NZ time.