He celebrated his 28th birthday last June and is now preparing to make his debut with the France national team. Either way, Jean-Philippe Mateta is living proof (if any more were needed) that a career doesn’t always follow an upward trajectory.
Spotted by Lyon while playing for Châteauroux in the National (the French third division), he joined the Rhône-based club but struggled to make his mark there. And finally, far from the capital of Gaul, in Le Havre, where he ended up on loan, came the real launch of his career. Then followed an adventure in Germany, at Mainz, who spent a record €8 million to secure his services.
Three years later, he moved to London. To the South, to be precise, where he signed with Crystal Palace, first on loan, then permanently in 2022. Once again, things didn’t go as planned, as his early performances proved rather unconvincing. But the arrival of Oliver Glasner at the helm of the Eagles changed everything for the Frenchman, who over the months established himself as one of the Premier League’s established performers.
Enough to earn him a call-up to the French national team?
“Honestly, I always believed in it,” he explained in an interview with L’Équipe. “I knew I was going to get my chance. I’ve always had that goal. I’m an ambitious person, that’s what defines me. When I do something, I believe in it wholeheartedly.”
And Mateta was right. Especially since, at Palace, few really seemed to think he would achieve that goal.
“At Crystal Palace, at the very beginning, when I wasn’t even playing, I used to talk about the French national team in the dressing room and my teammates, like Wilfried Zaha, laughed at me,” he revealed.
“They told me I was crazy to think about the French team when I wasn’t even playing for Crystal Palace. But I replied that it was my goal and that I just had to play to show what I could do. My dream has always been to play for the French team.”
Mateta will not be the oldest player to make his debut for France
Today, Mateta’s dream is about to come true. However, at 28 years and three months old, the striker is far from being the oldest player to make his debut for the French national team so late in his career.
In recent years alone, Jonathan Clauss (aged 29 years and six months), Benoit Costil (aged 29 years, four months and 12 days) and Brice Samba (aged 29 years, one month and 22 days) can all attest to this.
So what can we say about Rene Bonnet, who was called up to play for Les Bleus for the one and only time in his career at the age of 34 years, one month and six days, in February 1914? Or Albert Rust, whose sole cap for France came in the third-place play-off at the 1986 World Cup against Belgium (4-2, a.e.t.)? As for Franck Jurietti, the player with the briefest international career, five seconds were enough for him to make his mark on Les Bleus’ history when he came on as a substitute against Cyprus at the age of 30 years, six months and 12 days.
Just goes to show, there’s no point in rushing. Everything comes to those who wait.
The 10 oldest players to have made their debut for France
- Rene Bonnet — 34 years, one month and six days (1914)
- Maurice Mathieu — 33 years, two months and four days (1914)
- Albert Rust — 32 years, eight months and 18 days (1986)
- Gerard Farison — 32 years, one month and nine days (1976)
- Rene Gallice — 32 years and 29 days (1951)
- Marcel Ourdouillie — 31 years, 11 months and 27 days (1945)
- Kader Firoud — 31 years, 11 months and 22 days (1951)
- Marceau Stricanne — 31 years and 10 months (1951)
- Henri Skiba — 31 years, seven months and 15 days (1959)
- Henri Roessler — 31 years, five months and 20 days (1942)
