Clue: It’s not an Australian in the A-League or W-League. Or a home-based Socceroo or Matilda.

Meet Dan “D10” Cappellaro.

The Perth-born skills and tricks legend who’s built a global profile through his impressive Futsal career.

You may have watched some of his skills, 1v1 moves and tricks tutorials on his popular @D10Football Insta account.

Gamers may also recall his likeness being used as an unlockable character "D10" in EA SPORTS’ popular FIFA STREET, released in 2012.

And in 2019 he’s still at the top of his game with the tag of "Football Influencer" being used to describe him. 

So much so, a certain Brazilian and PSG superstar has invited him to be part of his 2019 Red Bull Neymar Jr "Jr's Global 5" Selection in Brazil next month.

Given the game’s challenges promoting and marketing in an innovative way, Cappellaro says social media can be a huge way of breaking new ground and finding new fans.

With one caveat: content is key.

And interestingly, he found inspiration from basketball, not football.

“I was doing Instagram for a long time,” he told FTBL over a coffee in Melbourne.  “And my interactivity was very bad. I was trying a lot of different things.

“But then I started to follow Gary Vee [Vaynerchuk]. What he said resonated with me. He said no one is going to follow you just because you feel like you deserve to be followed.

“It’s true.

"So I asked myself the question, ‘What can I do to offer a service in which people are then going to follow, like and buy-into my brand?

“No-one was going to follow me just because I was in FIFA Street or had played in a few countries and have good skills.”

The game-changer was his @D10Football skills tutorials.

Suddenly, by producing content that was useful and had value to those watching, his followers zoomed.

“I’m not creating documentaries or movie length video," he said "I just started putting up short videos explaining how to do certain tricks.

“One night, I put up a tutorial in 2016. Just one minute. Me showing a skill then breaking it down. All unedited.”

It got 60k views. From that, 5000 new followers almost overnight.

So, next Wednesday another video. And so on.

He added: “Delving more into Gary Vee’s ideas, he said post three times a day.  And I thought, ‘Shit I gotta up my game here!’" 

So, each day two photos and a video went up on @D10Football.

He went from 25k followers to 80k in four weeks.

And after that, the momentum just snowballed.

“I’ve also found out about Instagram TV and that boosted me again. So, in my opinion, it’s finding what people are using, what’s hot and where you can put videos where most eyes are.”

But ultimately it was about good, useful, simple content. 

“If you can show people how to do something, by sharing a skill you have to enhance someone else’s life, then other people will resonate with that,” he said.

As for the A-League and W-League, he believes it’s hard to be a league and ‘followed’.

“People watch the NBA but they don’t follow it. They follow LeBron James and other superstars. The players are what carry the league," he explained. 

Is it time, asks Cappellaro, for both our national leagues to focus on players as their marketing point?

He says both leagues are doing a lot right with their content, but it’s players who can carry the leagues to the next level.

“And remember, it’s the most played junior sport, and they are looking for role models to follow."

He added: “I feel players need to realise that yes, you’re a player, but football is your business. And whether that’s on or off the park.

"Once you’re finished playing in the A-League what are you going to do?

“You have a large social following and of course your Fox Sports, your Optus Sport and others are going to want to employ you.

“And I have to say, the Matildas are much better with their social media than the Socceroos.

“Our culture, I think, breeds the idea that you don’t want to make a mistake,” he continued.

“And with social media, with every post, it’s a gamble. No-one can make a viral post.

“No-one can really know if you’re going to be liked or disliked. Social media is a gamble because you’re putting yourself out there to be judged.

“You’ve decided to make the story. It lands with you. And that I think is what people are scared of most.

“The Izzy Folau incident is a good example.”

That said, Cappellaro believes in 10 years we won’t have social media as we know it today.

“It’ll be something else. Media evolves," he explained. 

"There’s an adaption process to whatever platform and with social media, we’re still going through the adaption process, but in 10 years the way we consume will be completely different again.”

Social media aside, Cappellaro has built a global career from when he became the first Australian to play in the UEFA Futsal Cup.

He’s also played Futsal in Spain (with Castelldefels FS) while living in Barcelona, Argentina (Depor Caseros), England with Middlesbrough and in Holland with Amsterdam club ZVV Ter Beek.

But like most 11v11 footballers playing abroad, it can be just as tough to deal with living in another country while chasing your dream.

“I’ve been overseas, I’ve had injuries and I’ve sat there staring, thinking, ‘am I going to be able to do what I did previously with these injuries?’" he admitted.

“I’ve been sitting on the edge of a bed, crying into my hands. Waiting for mum and dad to log on to Skype so I can speak with them.

“If you don’t push yourself to give it a go, to go outside of your comfort zone, you never reach that.  A lot of people, they have the first knockback and they go, ‘well I tried’ and give up.

“I just love it too much. It would take something crazy for me to stop.”

Next stop?

Playing for Neymar’s Global Selection side in Brazil next month.

D10 added: “My path has been a little different. I’ve shown you can have a professional career, without going through an NTC, NYL or A-League.

“In some ways, it shows you can achieve something different as a career in football.

"The vision changed along the way, focussing on different things, but I’ve always been determined to make this a success."