A TOUGH childhood, attacks by racist rival fans, goal droughts – Jean-Philippe Mateta has overcome them all on the way to becoming the king of Crystal Palace.
So his current battle to return to fitness after being on the receiving end of a horrific head injury is just another hurdle he must conquer on the road to success.
Mateta is currently recovering from the injury suffered against Millwall in the FA Cup.
He was on the receiving end of a wild head-high tackle from Liam Roberts in the first half of the tasty fifth-round tie.
Mateta stayed down for several minutes as he was treated by the medics on the Selhurst Park pitch while distressed team-mates watched on.
After nearly ten minutes on the ground, he was carried off on a stretcher and received oxygen as he was taken away.
He was later discharged from hospital after receiving 25 stitches to his ear.
Mateta is recovering at home, and will hopefully be soon back playing for Palace.
His career is a story of overcoming adversity driven, in part, by the example of his dad Philippe, whose own career was cut cruelly short.
Mateta – grew up in Sevran, a district of “the 93” – the area in the north-east suburbs of Paris that is among the poorest parts of France and notorious for crime.
But from the start the young man saw football as his way out and was determined not to go down the wrong path.
Mateta said: “Lots of young people smoke weed, some end up in miserable situations, some even die.
“But for you as a resident, that’s everyday life, you don’t see it as particularly threatening.
“I always knew in my head that I would be a professional footballer one day. And that that would be my ticket out.”
Mateta dedicated himself to achieving his dream, even if it meant foregoing the usual excitement of teenage life.
He said: “I skipped a lot of parties. Once there was even one right next to me in the high-rise, and I didn’t even go to that one.
“My apartment was on the 15th floor, the party on the 11th. All my friends were there, I heard the noise.
“I only had to walk a few flights of stairs and I would have been there.
“But there was a game the next day, so I stayed home.
“I didn’t have a plan B. Not even close. In my head it was like this: either I become a professional – or I’ll fail.
“In my area, a lot of people are looking for quick money, which is why they sell drugs or commit burglaries.
“But I felt, deep down, that football would be my path.”
Little did Mateta know, however, that his Congo-born dad did not want him to follow in his footsteps.
Mateta explained: “ At first, my mother only told me later, he was completely against it. He didn’t want me to go through anything like him.
“He played in Congo and then in Liega, But when he was 24, he seriously injured his leg.
“Medicine wasn’t that advanced back then, and several operations went wrong. After that, he had to end his career.
“He didn’t want me to go through anything like him. The injury, the end of his career, all of that mentally destroyed him.
“He wanted to spare me that.”
Mateta started training with and playing for Drancy, a club outside Sevran, when he was 14, and then joined Chateauroux’s youth set-up after bigger clubs passed on the chance to sign him.
Mateta’s 13 goals in 26 third-tier games for the first team attracted the attention of Lyon and he boycotted training to force a move to the Ligue 1 giants early in the 2016/17, while other clubs, including Tottenham, hesitated.
But after limited opportunities in the Lyon first team, Mateta went on loan to Ligue 2 Le Havre, where his goals fired the team to the play-offs to get into Ligue 1.
But the semi final against Ajaccio in Corsica was postponed by a day after fans attacked the Le Havre team bus and hurled abuse.
Mateta recalled: “They called me a dirty black, they insulted my family.
“After the attack on the bus, we remained calm. Since they had broken the air conditioning, we had to open the doors, and the police hadn’t arrived yet.
“So if they had wanted to attack us, they could have done so. But they didn’t.
“It was just intimidation, but personally, it didn’t scare me at all.”
When the game took place a day late, tempers flared on the pitch and Mateta’s provocative celebration when he made it 2-1 in extra time led to a melee.
He and three other players were sent off before Ajaccio equalised and then won a penalty shootout.
But Mateta’s 20 goals in 38 games earned him his own move to the top flight, with German side Mainz beating Newcastle and others to the punch.
In Germany, too, he had to confront racism, as the club’s squad, which featured a number of players with African ancestry, was the target of snide comments and outright abuse.
Mainz’s club record signing, at a fee of £6.5m, had an impressive first season, scoring 14 times in the Bundesliga.
But Mateta found the net only 10 times across the next two campaigns.
So there were reservations when he arrived at Selhurst Park in 2020, initially on an 18-month loan.
Mateta joined permanently for £8m in January 2022 but still struggled to hold down a starting place.
He ended a run of 28 Premier League appearances without a goal when he scored the winner in the game against Leicester in April 2023, which marked Roy Hodgson’s return as boss.
But it was only when Oliver Glasner replaced Hodgson in February last year that Mateta’s Premier League career really took off.
Mateta scored 13 goals in 13 games – having managed just 11 in his first 80 PL appearances – as Palace achieved their joint highest finish (10th) and points total (49) of the Premier League era.
Glasner’s high-pressing tactics brought more turnovers and the frontman in his 3-4-2-1 formation capitalised.
During that amazing run, Mateta became only the second French player to score in seven straight home game in the PL.
The other one was Thierry Henry, who promptly picked the Palace star as an over-age player for the Olympic tournament in Paris.
Mateta scored the only goal of the quarter final against Argentina, netted twice in the 3-1 semi-final win over Egypt and grabbed a 93rd-minute equaliser to send the final against Spain to extra time.
The Spaniards won on penalties so Mateta and his team-mates had to settle for silver medals.
But the 27-year-old has taken his golden touch in front of goal into the current season.
Mateta’s two goals in the 2-0 win at Manchester United last month took his Premier League tally to 10 for the season.
Glasner said: “It is amazing when you have a number nine who scores goals — that is what everyone expects from a striker.
“He has the confidence and the feeling at the moment. Both goals were one-touch finishes.
“For the set play, he was there; he had the feeling and the confidence to be in the right areas.
“The second goal looked easy in the end because it was a one-touch finish, but it was his 20th run in behind.
“He runs and runs, and many times, he does not get the ball, but in the end, he gets the rewards.”
Which pretty much sums up the life and career of Mateta.
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