When Ryan Adsett woke up 10 days ago in Storrington, England, he could never have imagined what the day had in store.
News had broken that Brighton & Hove Albion, the football club he fervently supports, had recalled South African player Percy Tau, who had been on loan in Belgium.
Adsett, 19, tweeted jokingly that Tau was the best player in the world, better than Lionel Messi. Within hours, he was inundated with love — and some prime banter — from "South African football Twitter".
He was even given a nickname, which translates loosely to "idiot".
"It's been incredible," he told the Sunday Times in a Zoom interview.
"I had all these people commenting, laughing and all this. And I was like, 'Oh God, I've been set up.' "
Adsett later discovered what the nickname meant, but said he accepted it in good spirit.
"Luckily for me, I got lots of followers and they are so funny.
"They were giving me a lot of love as well, sending me a lot of positivity. It was more a bit of banter and you know they're having a bit of fun.
"I don't think we expected the South Africans to be as funny as they are. It's a good bit of banter. It's class."
