The past few weeks aren’t the first time Wilfried Zaha has made headlines for the wrong reasons after receiving a red card for MLS side Charlotte FC.
Zaha hits back at Jean-Philippe Mateta
One of the guarantees in life is that Zaha has his say in the debate, something Jean-Philippe Mateta recently discovered the hard way. The Crystal Palace striker initially removed his former team-mate’s name, revealing he had mocked his France ambitions at the time, before he even started at Selhurst Park.
“At Crystal Palace, right after the game started, when we weren’t playing, I talked about the France national team in the dressing room and my team-mates, like Wilfried Zaha, laughed.
“I was told that I was crazy for thinking about the French national team when I wasn’t playing for Crystal Palace, but I said that was my aim and I just had to play to show what I was capable of.”
As it turned out, it was Mateta who had the last laugh. The forward is currently one of the best players in the Premier League, and although he recently silenced any remaining doubters by scoring his first goal for France, he clearly hasn’t forgotten Zaha’s ridicule.
But the Charlotte winger sees things a little differently. Hitting back at Mateta, Zaha said: “I’m sorry, my head is hot. We have to resolve the Mateta situation, because he doesn’t want it. This just shows me that… Look when I was playing for Crystal Palace, and all these people were looking at me, and it’s clear that they weren’t happy with me, I’ve never made anyone feel bad.”
Since the public altercation in which the winger reaffirmed that he did not mean to offend and was just joking between friends, Mateta scored a hat-trick for Palace and Zaha appears to have taken his anger out on the pitch.
Zaha criticizes Jesus Bueno
If talent is a topic of discussion, Zaha will be one of the main topics of conversation. He was one of the best players in MLS all season, scoring 10 goals and assisting on six more, helping Charlotte reach the playoffs in style, but it still feels bad.
That temper has always been on fire throughout his career, and it was on display for everyone to see when he stunned Jesus Bueno in a recent MLS game against Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Union reporter José Roberto Nuñez took aim at Zaha after the incident, calling him an “unnecessary red card” in a match that was effectively over. This means Zaha will miss the first of Charlotte’s best-of-three MLS Cup series against New York City.
From Mateta’s accusations to the red eye in MLS, it’s safe to say it’s been a few weeks to forget for Zaha.