Jean-Philippe Mateta has been on fire for Crystal Palace over the past couple of seasons, earning himself a recent call-up to a star studded French national side.
He marked the occasion in style, scoring on his debut in a 2-2 draw with Iceland on Monday. However, the spotlight quickly shifted from his on-field heroics to a growing off-field tension with former teammate and Crystal Palace legend, Wilfried Zaha.
In a recent interview with French publication L’Equipe, the Crystal Palace striker claimed that while he was still struggling for game time at Crystal Palace, he brought up his ambition to play for France in the Eagles’ dressing room.
He highlighted Wilfried Zaha, and said the former Palace talisman ‘laughed at him‘. According to the Frenchman, Zaha mocked him, saying ‘You’re mad to even think of the French national team when you’re not even starting here.’
The claims infuriated Zaha, who took to social media to upload a fiery response. Zaha pleaded: ‘I’d never bully someone or say someone won’t make it. It’s disgusting when I see someone who I thought was a friend do that.’ Zaha went on to address what he felt was disrespectful from his former teammate – ‘Is it because Zaha is the biggest name? I’m getting messages like ‘You’re not laughing now at Mateta.’ I couldn’t care less. Well done to him. Did you (Mateta) dislike me this me this whole time? It is nasty. ‘
It’s fair to say the pair won’t be exchanging Christmas cards any time soon, but they’re far from being the first pair in football to fallout, disputes like this have always been part of the game – join us as we take a look at 5 notable teammate pairings who famously clashed or never quite saw eye to eye – both on and off the pitch.
1 – David Speedie and Terry Hurlock (Southampton)
An early season tour after a poor league start was supposed to be about rejuvenation and preparation, but erupted into mayhem for all those concerned with Southampton in 1992. New signing David Speedie made the mistake of attempting to fight Terry Hurlock, with team mate Micky Adams caught in the crossfire.
The latter was subject to a cut eye and a night in the cells – and it wasn’t even his fight. Adams recalled; ‘It was a chance for everyone to say their piece because it had not been a good start to the season. It was an open forum where anyone can say anything.
‘David did not agree with certain things that whee said, and he decided to pick on Terry Hurlock! ‘It was a brave decision. It was also a bad one. If you are going to pick a fight, at least pick one you can win.’
Punches were thrown, ashtrays were hurled, and blood was drawn, in what was went down as one of the most violent off-pitch clashes in football history.
2- Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez (England)
After the pair fought each other on the pitch during Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Manchester City in the week prior, tensions were extremely high going into England’s November training camp – and they boiled over as soon as the English teammates reunited. In the canteen, Sterling is reported to have verbally confronted Gomez, before attempting to grab him around the neck. Teammates had to intervene and split the pair up.
Gomez emerged from the scrap sporting a fresh battle scar, a large scratch beneath his right eye serving as further evidence of his brawl with his English teammate. Sterling later issued a public apology acknowledging that his emotions ‘got the better of him’ – he was later dropped for England’s next Euro qualifier, as manager Gareth Southgate treated the battle as a serious breach in squad harmony.
3. Kieran Dyer and Lee Bowyer (Newcastle United)
In a fixture vs Aston Villa in 2005, Bowyer and Dyer exchanged strong words which escalated quickly into a physical fight on the pitch in what is widely viewed as the most infamous bust-up in Premier League history. With Newcastle already trailing 3-0 in the match at this point, they were now reduced to 9 men as both players were shown the red card for violent conduct.
The fallout was significant – Bowyer was hit with a 6 week wage fine by Newcastle before receiving further punishments from the FA after investigation. Dyer was also suspended, but escaped financial penalties as he claimed he was ‘provoked’, and did not instigate violence. The situation is seen as a stark reminder that teammates aren’t always mates at all.
4. Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)
The North London derby is always a heated affair, with bragging rights and local pride on the line. It’s known for on-pitch conflicts between the red and white jerseys, however in a 2008 Carling Cup semi-final, it was teammate who turned on each other.
As the match wound down, with The Gunners trailing, both players got involved in a kerfuffle. Bendtner walked away with a cut under his nose, blood staining his shirt.
Bendtner revealed: ‘Me and Emmanuel never had a good relationship. We had a heated argument …. He head butted me on the nose.’ After the semi-final concluded, both players were fined by their club for conduct.
5. Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
While both attackers were pivotal to Liverpool’s revitalization under Klopp, it is widely reported that they never got along off the pitch. These tensions spilled onto the field during Liverpool’s trip to Burnley in their title winning season of 19/20.
Salah found himself in a promising position late in the second half, however the Egyptian opted to shoot when a square ball to the anticipating Sadio Mane appeared to be the obvious option.
Despite leading the match 0-2, Mane was fuming. He was substituted off shortly after, and was visibly furious on the bench, throwing his arms around, while gesturing and shouting over Salah’s decision.
Striker at the time Roberto Firmino was right in between the pair for the majority of his time at Liverpool, and later spoke out about Mane and Salah’s distain for each other .
Football is a game of passion and sheer competitive instinct, and sometimes, things can boil over between teammates as well as the opposition. These 5 clashes along with Zaha’s recent argument with former teammate reflect that teammates aren’t always as friendly as they seem.
