The 27-year-old forward has put himself in a position to win a gold medal thanks to a stunning transformation over the past few months
Thierry Henry wanted Kylian Mbappe to lead France's attack at the Olympics. He ended up with Jean-Philippe Mateta. It looked like quite the downgrade, but Henry was happy, the coach keen to accentuate the positives.
“He’s an old-fashioned striker, so you can play a little more direct with him because he can keep the ball," the France legend told reporters after announcing his squad for this summer's Games on home soil. "In a way, he's a boring striker to play against, in that he doesn’t lose the ball much and he always goes at the last defender.
"He also uses his physicality well, he’s good with his head, and he scores goals. A striker like that gives you another dimension. He was also voted Player of the Year at Crystal Palace. It seems to me that he's not too bad!"
Henry's faith in the forward has paid off spectacularly, with Mateta having emerged as the host nation's unlikeliest icon by firing France into the men's football final, where they will meet Spain on Friday.
Getty ImagesToiling at Selhurst Park
It's a truly incredible turn of events for a player that was struggling terribly at Crystal Palace just over eight months ago. Indeed, as the January 2024 transfer window approached, Mateta was being linked with a move away from Selhurst Park. It wasn't hard to work out why, as he was rarely starting and barely scoring.
However, an injury to Palace's first-choice No.9, Odsonne Eduard, during the first half of the Premier League clash with Liverpool on December 6 completely altered the course of Mateta's career.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesEnding the drought
The former Mainz forward was brought on during the interval at Selhurst Park and won a penalty that he converted himself. On the same day that Mohamed Salah scored his 200th goal for Liverpool, Mateta netted his first in the Premier League for eight months.
He was on target again the very next week – this time from open play – as Palace came from 2-0 down to claim a draw at Manchester City, but it was only after the appointment of Oliver Glasner as Roy Hodgson's successor in February that a revived Mateta really caught fire.
GettyThe Glasner effect
Playing under a coach that had previously worked wonders with the likes of Wout Weghorst and Randal Kolo Muani, Mateta scored 13 goals in 13 games – more than anyone else in the Premier League during that time.
It was a truly staggering run of form from a forward that had only struck 11 times in his previous 80 appearances in England's top-flight. He was still taking as many shots; the difference was that he was putting away twice as many, with his corner flag-kicking celebration becoming a regular sight at Selhurst Park, thus transforming a player previously considered a transfer flop into a cult hero.
Getty Images'Given me my chance'
Mateta claimed that there was no great secret to his sudden success. "I have changed nothing," he insisted in an interview with . "I just keep playing hard and being ready, and now they have given me my chance.
"I just needed to play regularly. I know it is hard – because there is a lot of competition – but I knew when my time came, I was going to prove to them that I'm the striker for Palace."
Having achieved that, he turned his intention to an even more ambitious aim: becoming the striker for France too.