Thierry Henry wanted Kylian Mbappe to oversee France's attack at the Olympics. He met and picked Jean-Philippe Mateta. It looked like a big drop, but Henry was happy, and the coach was eager to point out the good things.
"He's an old-fashioned striker, so you can play a little more directly with him because he can keep the ball," the French legend told reporters after naming his team for the Games in France this summer.
He doesn't lose the ball often and always goes for the last defense, making him a boring striker to play against.
Besides being good with his head, he's also good with his body and gets goals. That kind of player gives you another way to play. He was also Crystal Palace's Player of the Year. I don't think he's too bad!"
Henry put a lot of faith in the forward, and it paid off brilliantly. Mateta has become the most bizarre national hero of the host country by leading France to the men's football final, where they will play Spain on Friday.
It's an amazing turn of events for a player having a terrible time at Crystal Palace just over eight months ago.
When the January 2024 transfer window opened, Mateta was being talked about as a possible player to leave Selhurst Park. It was easy to see why—he rarely started and didn't score very often.
Mateta's career took a massive turn for the worse when Odsonne Eduard, Palace's first-choice No. 9, got hurt in the first half of their Premier League game against Liverpool on December 6.
Mateta said there wasn't a big secret to his sudden happiness. And he said, "I have changed nothing," in an interview with BBC Sport. "I always work hard and get ready, and now they've given me my chance."
"All I needed was to play often." There was a lot of competition, so when it was my turn, I would show them that I was the best scorer for Palace.
Once he had done that, he set his sights on an even bigger goal: to become the striker for France as well.
After such an amazing end to the season, which helped Palace finish 10th in the Premier League, which tied the club record, Mateta made it clear that he wanted to sneak into France's team for Euro 2024.
Hadier Deschamps never called (which may have been a mistake now that we look back), but Henry did. The former Arsenal forward chose Mateta as one of his three overage players for Paris.
Even more importantly, Henry stuck with Mateta even after the in-form scorer had disappointing games in France's first two Olympic games against the US and Guinea.
"He had to leave our training camp for five days to go back to his club, and I think he lost a tiny bit of momentum, and that's why I wanted to rotate [against New Zealand], but I didn’t want to rotate him,"
Henry said to FIFA. "We trust him. He said yes, so giving him the uniform and playing him would be important.
It was also a strong reaction.
Mateta scored the first goal of his Olympic career in a 3-0 win over New Zealand in the group stage.
He then scored the game-winning goal in the quarterfinals against Argentina, including the late equalizer that sent the game into extra time.
He then scored two goals in a 3-1 win over Egypt, which set up Friday's match against Spain at Parc des Princes.
Mateta has become one of the faces of France's Games thanks to his ability to score goals and his charmingly bubbly nature. Henry told FIFA about him, "He is a great person." "The way he makes the team feel... He's funny and likes to joke around with everyone."
The man can't believe how much things have changed for him in 2024. With the two goals in the semi-finals, Mateta scored 18 goals in his last 18 games for his club and his country.
"Just to be here is a dream," the former no-one at Lyon told FIFA. "I've been watching the Olympics since I was a little boy." Now I'm taking part in it."
Getting better at it, too. France nearly had Mbappe at the Olympics, but Mateta was chosen instead, and he has been all right.
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