Zaha Hits Out at Mateta Over ‘Disgusting’ Claims of Mocking France Dream

Former Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha has hit back at Jean-Philippe Mateta following a recent interview in which the French striker claimed the winger laughed at him.

Zaha described the interview as “nasty” and “disgusting,” rejecting Mateta’s assertion that he mocked the Frenchman when he spoke about his dream of representing France.

In the interview, Mateta said:
“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 teammates like Wilfried Zaha who were laughing. They said I was crazy to think about the France team when I wasn’t even playing at Crystal Palace, but I replied that it was my goal and I just had to play to prove myself.”

Mateta recently made his debut for Les Bleus in a 3-0 victory over Azerbaijan on Friday and followed it up by scoring in a 2-2 draw with Iceland on Monday, realizing his dream of playing for France.

Zaha has now responded, expressing his desire to resolve the situation while making clear he feels betrayed.

“My head’s on fire. I have to clear up this Mateta situation because he doesn’t want to,” Zaha said. “I spoke to him, and he’s OK with it, but this just shows me that during my time at Crystal Palace, people weren’t always happy for me.”

“I never made anyone feel bad. Everyone knows me—on the pitch I’m just passionate, but I would never bully someone or tell them they wouldn’t make it. It’s disgusting when I see someone I thought was a friend do that.”

Zaha and Mateta were teammates at Selhurst Park for two-and-a-half seasons before Zaha moved on to Galatasaray.