Tim Payne scored on his Club Olimpia debut, and now the shirt on his back that night is attracting bids worth around NZ$6,000. Not bad for a defender who had fewer than 5,000 Instagram followers six months ago.
Olimpia put the shirt up for online auction earlier this week, and with the deadline approaching, offers have climbed past 21 million Paraguayan guaraní. Payne recorded a video to launch the sale: "I know exactly what it means to wear these stripes and play in this shirt, and that's why I want to give it to a true Olimpista."
From Wellington to viral to Asunción
The sequence of events that got Payne here is genuinely strange. Before the World Cup, the 32-year-old was a reliable but low-profile figure at the Wellington Phoenix — 150 appearances, 54 caps for the All Whites, respectable career, minimal fanfare. Then Argentine football influencer Valen Scarsini, better known as El Scarso, decided to run a social media campaign around the World Cup's "least-known soccer player." He landed on Payne.
El Scarso pointed his 2 million followers at Payne's near-empty Instagram and urged them to make him a "World Cup hero." The support topped 5 million. The story circled the globe. El Scarso flew to Florida to meet Payne at the All Whites' training base. Shortly after, Payne had left the Phoenix and signed for one of Paraguay's most storied clubs.
He then came off the bench on debut against Rubio Ñu and scored. The shirt from that night is what's now being auctioned off.
What this actually means
There's no serious precedent for a player's career being reshaped by a social media stunt this directly — and Payne has handled every step of it without putting a foot wrong. The auction itself is smart. Tying the shirt to the fanbase rather than cashing in quietly builds real goodwill with Olimpia supporters, the kind a foreign signing genuinely needs.
Whether Payne becomes a genuine fixture in the Paraguayan Primera División or this remains a fascinating footnote, the shirt alone has already cleared NZ$6,000 — and bidding wasn't even closed yet.
