Wilfried Zaha has come out swinging in his dispute with Jean-Philippe Mateta after the Crystal Palace striker basked in proving his former teammate wrong.
Mateta, 28, has enjoyed a sensational rise in South London, scoring 21 goals in his last 58 appearances to earn himself a call up to the France national team for the latest round of international fixtures.
It marks a remarkable turnaround for the big striker, who initially struggled to make an impact following his move to the Premier League from Mainz in 2021.
At the time, Zaha was the star man at Selhurst Park, and Mateta recently recalled how he was laughed out of the room when he first outlined his desire to one day represent his country.
‘At Crystal Palace, right at the start, when I wasn’t even playing, I spoke about the France team in the dressing room and I had team-mates like Wilfried Zaha who were laughing,’ he told L’Equipe.
‘They said that I was mad to think about the France team when I wasn’t even playing at Crystal Palace, but I responded saying that it was my objective and that I simply had to play to show what I could do.
Wilfried Zaha has hit back at former teammate Jean-Philippe Mateta in a stunning response
Mateta earnt a call up to France’s squad owing to his fantastic form with Palace
‘My dream has always been to play for the France team. I knew that I would get my chance.’
Now Zaha has hit back in a stunning rebuke. The former Palace star, who plays for MLS side Charlotte FC, labelled Mateta’s version of events as ‘nasty’ and ‘disgusting’ in a two-minute rant uploaded to social media.
‘I’m sorry but my head’s on fire,’ he began.
‘I’ve got to clear up this Mateta situation because he doesn’t want to and this just shows me that… see the times when I was playing at Crystal Palace and all these people were watching me and it’s clear they weren’t happy for me because I never made anyone feel like s***.
‘I never… everyone knows me, the only time on a pitch is when I’m passionate and all of that stuff but I never bullied someone or said someone won’t make it here or won’t make it at all or nothing like that.
‘It’s disgusting when I see someone who I thought was a friend do that.’
Zaha clarified what really happened, saying: ‘The conversation that was had was his chances of playing for France way back when he wasn’t playing for Palace and there were 10 players that he had this conversation with and as friends, we laughed it off but we were joking around, [saying] that it is going to be difficult, especially with Benzema all these different players playing in those positions. But we never ever once said “you’re never going to make it.”
‘So wouldn’t you be shocked, especially with football banter with your mates, wouldn’t you be shocked if this person asked this to 10 people, I swear to you, 10 Crystal Palace players were there when this conversation was had, wouldn’t you be shocked that this person has made out like there was some sort of hate from me?
But he claims Zaha ‘laughed’ at him when he outlined his dream of representing his country when he first joined the South London club
‘Why would he say my name when there was 10 people there? Is it just because Zaha is the biggest name?
‘I do not understand. It’s disgusting. I’ve never hated on anyone. Now I’m getting messages: “Oh you’re not laughing now at Mateta.” I couldn’t care less. Well done to him. I even congratulated him publicly on his Instagram.
‘So to hear that story come out it’s like what the f***? Did you dislike me this whole time for you to come out with this, your come up story, “I’m going to use Zaha as my come up story”?
‘Like it’s nasty man, it’s nasty. This is why I don’t have football friends, this is why I keep myself to myself, because how is he going to do that?’
