The All White's newly minted social media superstar, Tim Payne, has described his newfound stardom as "surreal".
The 32-year-old All Whites defender had a modest social media following on Instagram before Argentinian football influencer, Valen Scarsini, known as El Scarso, urged his fans to follow FIFA's "least-known player".
In a matter of days, 5000 followers grew to more than 5 million.
After being kept away from the media since his rise to internet fame, Payne spoke today after training at Raymond James Stadium, one day before the All Whites face England in their final warm-up match before the FIFA tournament kicks off.
Tim Payne shares the moment he realised he'd become a viral sensation - Watch on TVNZ+
"It's pretty surreal. I talked about it a little bit in terms of just trying to process the moment," he said.
"It's probably a beautiful thing that it's happening during the time period of the World Cup, but my full focus is still on football and training every day," Payne told NZ media in Florida.
"I think it's a positive thing on the whole for myself and NZ Football."
However, he said it was initially overwhelming.
"I have my notifications turned off. It's one of those things. I don't try to go in it too much. Just message people who are important to me," he said.
"At our pre-camp in Miami, I was sitting in a room with [fellow All White] Alex Rufer and noticed quite a few notifications coming through on Instagram at the time.
"I mentioned something to Alex. I think it was hundreds at the time, and I remember waking up, and it was thousands - it had completely blown up. It all continued on from there."
1News asked if he had any plans for his new platform.
"At this time being, no, I'm just focusing on my training and playing England tomorrow."
The All Whites face off against England in Tampa at 8am tomorrow (NZT). Watch the match on TVNZ+ and TVNZ 2.
Watch the All Whites' FIFA World Cup and warmup matches live and free on TVNZ+
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