Jean-Philippe Mateta was in action for France on Tuesday night, and it was a happy outing in Paris, here’s how he fared.
On Tuesday night, France defeated New Zealand to confirm their position atop Group A in the Olympics.
Jean-Philippe Mateta started the game with the armband and managed to last 66 minutes before being replaced.
After struggling against the United States and then Guinea, finally Mateta found his feet in this game as the host nation won 3-0 with Mateta on the scoresheet.
But how did he play and how did he fare in the game? Let’s find out.
Jean-Philippe Mateta shines for France
The Crystal Palace No.14 had endured a pretty underwhelming competition up until last night that was when the French thumped New Zealand 3-0 and Mateta played his role.
Scoring the opening goal, Mateta set the precedent with a strong finish which left the goalkeeper little chance of preventing a goal.
FotMob handed Mateta a 7.7 match rating which is his best of the tournament. Here are all of his stats from the game.
- 1 goal
- 2 shots
- 89% pass accuracy
- 19 touches
- 3 clearances
- 3 defensive actions
- 2 duels won
As seen he did really well in the game, although he will personally be annoyed with the lack of involvement he’s having, after he showed he can be more than a target man for Palace last season.
Next up, Mateta and France will face off against Argentina in the quarter-final on Friday.
When will Mateta return to Crystal Palace?
It’ll be frustrating for Oliver Glasner that even after his players from the Copa America and Euro 2024 return, he’ll still be without his goalscorer.
Mateta will at the earliest finish up at the Olympics this coming weekend, but if France goes on to win the tournament it’ll be next weekend before he gets to go on holiday.
Mateta will then be entitled to take three weeks holiday, although given he already had a holiday before the Olympics, we can’t imagine him taking the entire time.
If we had to guess, we imagine he’d be given a week, with the Premier League kicking off the weekend after the Olympics final, it’s unlikely he’ll be back for that, however could be in contention to face Manchester United on the 21st.
