Tim Payne isn’t the best player at the World Cup. He’s not playing for a contender, and he doesn’t play for a globally famous club team. All of that is exactly why he has gained over three million followers in less than a week.
The 32-year-old New Zealand utility player is bound for this summer’s tournament as his nation returns to soccer’s greatest stage for the first time since 2010. The right back plays his club soccer for the Australian A-League’s lone New Zealand club, the Wellington Phoenix, but has become the folk hero of this summer’s tournament already.
