'Least-known' World Cup player goes viral and gains over 1m followers.....
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New Zealand defender Tim Payne unwittingly shot to social media fame thanks to one Argentine influencer's mission to promote the World Cup's "least-known" player.
Over a few days, the stunt increased Payne's Instagram follower count from fewer than 5,000 to 600,000 - more than the All Whites' record goalscorer Chris WoodandNew Zealand Prime MinIster, Christopher Luxon combined.
Payne's followers has reached this week1.4m and rising..........
Valen Scarsini, known as 'elscarso' online, shared a video calling on his 697k TikTok and 458k Instagram followers to follow and make posts about the Wellington Phoenix player to boost his profile.
"I looked at all the teams that play the World Cup for the least-known player and, after analysing one by one, I found it," Scarsini said, in a video that has attracted over six million views across Instagram and TikTok.
"Tim Payne is a defender and has a very difficult task: help New Zealand win their first World Cup match. They have never won one. "What needs to be done to be the hero of the World Cup? Follow Tim Payne.........
"Explode his posts with likes and comments. We need to start naming Tim Payne everywhere. Make videos feeding the legend of Tim Payne. If you have the World Cup album, upload a photo with your sticker!!!!!!
A post on Payne's profile, which celebrated his 50th appearance for New Zealand in March, now has over 50k comments. Payne, aged 32, scored one and assisted four during the All Whites' World Cup qualifying campaign and was included in Darren Bazeley's 26-man squad for the nation's third ever finals. (do you know when else NZ has made ther Finals?)
The tournament's lowest-ranked side, New Zealand will begin their first campaign since 2010 against Iran before taking on Egypt and Belgium in their bid to progress from Group G. A follow-up video with Scarsini revealed that Payne had messaged him about the surprise attention his account was attracting.
"Was wondering why my socials were blowing up and found your post, man," wrote Payne, who signed for Blackburn Rovers as a teenager in 2012.
"Appreciate the love! Gracias, hermano."
Payne has now posted a video message himself from New Zealand's pre-World Cup training camp in Florida. Speaking initially in Spanish, Payne said: "Please excuse my Spanish, I'm still practising on Duolingo," before continuing in English.
"Just want to say a massive thank you first to you, Valen, it's been a pretty crazy 48 hours to say the least. I just wanted to also express that I'm very grateful to represent my country at this World Cup, and I appreciate all the love from all around the world. Muchas gracias."
Scarsini pulled off a similar feat last year, when the Instagram follower count of second-tier Swiss side FC Balzers - the football club with "the smallest fan base", by his estimation - far exceeded that of top-tier champions FC Basel after he published a video calling his followers to action.
Figure caption,
How the 'least-known' player became a viral campaign.
Celtic Football Club was formed back in November 1887 but it wasn't until 28th May 1888 that they played their first match....and it was against Rangers. There was no Scottish League in those days - that didn't start until the 1890/91 season - so the season for Rangers was the Scottish Cup, Glasgow Cup, various Charity Cups and a host of friendly matches. In total Rangers played 45 matches in the 1887/88 season the last of which was the friendly match away to Celtic. Rangers didn't field their strongest side while Celtic had a team of borrowed players but it was Celtic who ran out 5-2 winners in front of a crowd of around 2,000. Neil McCallum was the first goalscorer for Celtic who on that Monday evening played in white shirts with a green collar. From those small beginnings the 'Old Firm' local derby developed into one of the world's most famous and competitive fixtures. Worth a look if you want some history and detail!
https://www.celticfc.com/teams/
The first League season saw different problems, especially for Celtic. In the early parts of the season, the Bhoys found themselves on negative points! This is because they were deducted points for playing an ineligible player, and this effectively ended their hopes of winning the first ever League title.
In the late-1880s, teams played a mixture of friendlies as well as local, regional and national cup competitions. The Scottish Cup was Scotland’s pinnacle trophy, the one all clubs aspired to win. However, regional events such as the Glasgow Cup, were of significant interest, probably akin now to a League Cup victory. As evidence of the Glasgow Cup’s importance, after Celtic had won it and played Hearts, who were Scottish Cup holders, this fixture was described by one newspaper as being a game to decide the “Championship of Scotland.”
The 2025/26UEFA Conference League Final between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano will take place at Leipzig Stadium in Leipzig, Germany. Following finals in Albania, Czechia, Greece and Poland, the UEFA Conference League comes to Germany for the 2025/26 decider between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano.
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. is often abbreviated toRayo(Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in thePuente de Vallecas district of Madrid.The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish Football.
Founded on 29 May 1924, the club is known for its sociocultural tradition, recognized for representing thebarrio-local culture and itsworking-classstatus. Its home matches have been played at the 14,708-capacityCampo de Fútbol de Vallecasstadium since 1976.
Rayo Vallecano was founded on 29 May 1924 in the hometown of Prudencia Priego, wife of the club's first president Julián Huerta. Greatly inspired by the River PLate (a Football club from Argentina), in 1949, after an agreement with Athletic Madrid, a red diagonal stripe was added to the team's kit, and the club reached Tercera Division for the first time in its history.
Yo-yo years: One of the perennial yo-yo clubs of Spanish football, and always in the shadow of the two biggest clubs in the city (Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid), Rayo Vallecano spent many years during the 1980s and 1990s moving back and forth betweenLa LigaandSegunda División. The 1983–84 season was the worst during the 1980s. The club finished in the last position in Segunda División and was relegated to Segunda División B.
Due to a tragedy, Rayo Vallecano turned out to beLaurie Cunningham's last club; he was killed in a car crash just outside Madrid in 1989, after a sole season. He had recently won anF.A. Cupwinners medal withWimbledon F.C.in England the previous year and had also represented neighbours Real Madrid for four years.
They appeared to have consolidated their top flight status after promotion in 1999, and the team's most successful season came in 2000-01 reaching the Quartre-Finals of the UEFA Cup, going out only to eventual runners-up Alaves; Rayo finished ninth in the previous competition, but entered the competition via the "Fair Draw". (basically a "second chance"!
However, the club shortly thereafter fell on hard times, enduring successive relegations in 2003 and 2004. For 2005-06 manager Michel, a Real Madrid legend in the 1980s and '90s, was hired.
Rayo finished the 2006-7 season in second place in Segulnda Division B, winning the promotion play off semi-final but losing in the final to (1–2 aggregate). The following campaign, the team returned to division two after a four-year absence after a victorious run in the playoffs, disposing of Benidorm in the semi-final and Zamora in the last game 2–1 on aggregate.,
In its first season's back in the second tier of Spanish football, Rayo finished comfortably, often either in or just outside the promotion places. In 2010-11, the team ranked in second position and returned to the top flight after an eight-year absence, only trailing champions Real Betis in spite of very serious economic problems.
2011–: La Liga and Segunda División yo-yo
Diego Costa with Rayo Vallecano in 2012Chart of Rayo Vallecano league performance 1929–present
In March 2014, Huawei agreed to sponsor Rayo Vallecano for two league matches against Real Madrid and Athletic In August 2015, Rayo Vallecano purchased the majority of Oklahoma City FC, a NASL expansion franchise which had yet to officially play a game renaming the club to Rayo OKC, despite the stadium increasingly needing work. It was the first ever entry of a Spanish club into the American sports market and mirrored a 2013 sponsorship agreement with Qbao in terms of expanding the club's profile overseas. Rayo OKC folded after a year due to Rayo Vallecano's relegation from La Liga and a dispute between the co-owners led to less finance for the U.S. side.
In May 2016, Rayo Vallecano were relegated to the Segunda División, finishing 18th in the 2015-16 La Liga season. This ended their five-year streak in La Liga, their longest ever stay in the top-flight. Their first season back in the second division was a poor one, with both problems on the field and off, and they finished in 12th position. Rayo went through three managers in the 2016-17Segunbda Division season before finally settling on club legend Michel. He revived the club from the relegation places to 12th, almost making the playoffs.
At the start of the 2017-18 Segunda Division season, the club appointed their recently retired goalkeeper David Cobeno as the sporting director of the club. They secured their promotion with a 1–0 over CD Lugo with one game remaining. That season the club won Segunda División with 76 points in 42 games.
Rayo players during an away La Liga fixture versus Real Valladolid in January 2019
On 20 March 2019, the club appointed Paco Jemez as head coach,and on 4 May, Rayo was relegated back to the Segunda División after losing 4–1 to Levante UD eventually finishing last.
In August 2020, the club appointed AndoniIraolo as head coach. They finished sixth and won promotion in the playoffs against Girona FC; despite losing the first leg at home 1–2, the team came back to win the second leg 2–0 away to claim a place in La Liga for 2021-2. In February 2022, Iraola's side defeated RCD Mallorca to make the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey; it was the second time in club history and first since 1982. The club finished 12th in La Liga. This was a big achievement as they were by far the league's smallest team, and most had predicted that they would be relegated. They once again qualified for European football after 24 years, entering into the UEFA Conferen ce League Play-offs by finishing 8th in 2014-5 season. They went on to make their debut appearances in a major UEFA competition group or league phase by reaching the 2025-6 season, Conference League phase. They finished the league phase in fifth place (out of 36) qualifying directly to the round of 16, and subsequently qualified for their first-ever European semifinal and final.
Previous names.
Agrupación Deportiva El Rayo (29 May 1924 – 13 November 1947)
Agrupación Deportiva Rayo Vallecano (13 November 1947 – 1995)
