Football Bet of the Day: Mateta mounts case for Palace fans in Paris

Boom, boom, boom, boom, Mateta's in the room, there ain't no striker better than Jean-Philippe Mateta. That's the chant sung by Crystal Palace fans to the tune of Vengaboys, and the more I watch the French striker, the more I'm convinced Eagles supporters are on to something.

The 27-year-old takes centre stage in Friday's football bet of the day as France and Spain meet in the Men's Olympic Football Tournament Final at Paris Saint-Germain's Parc des Princes (17:00).

France Olympic vs Spain Olympic Odds

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Heading into Friday's final at the Parc des Princes, there are three realistic winners of the Golden Boot; Morocco's Soufiane Rahimi (six goals), Spain's Fermin Lopez and France's Mateta (both four). Rahimi has the clear advantage as he is already two ahead of the others and has another game - the bronze medal match against Egypt on Thursday.

Nevertheless, while Lopez and Mateta still have a chance of claiming the Golden Boot, the duo will surely be going all out to push themselves in front, though not to the detriment of their country as they bid to take gold.

It was a slow start to the tournament for Mateta, who failed to fire in either of France's opening group-stage victories over the USA (3-0) and Guinea (1-0).

The Crystal Palace star found his first of the tournament in France's final group game against New Zealand, however, netting a 19th-minute opener to set Les Bleus on their way to a 3-0 win.

That victory set up a grudge match with Argentina in the quarter-finals, and it took Mateta fewer than five minutes to strike in Bordeaux. His goal proved to be the only one of the contest, and Egypt were next in his sights in Monday's semi-final.

It looked like heartbreak for Thierry Henry's young group in Lyon after Mahmoud Saber put the Pharaohs in front just after the hour mark, with France struggling to find a way through a stubborn Egyptian defence.

But Henry held firm, making just one substitution in regulation time, and his patience was rewarded when Michael Olise embarked on a mazy run to slip Mateta through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and the Eagles forward wrapped the ball into the back of the net to level the scores on 83 minutes.

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Mateta's equaliser sent the tie to extra time, and it was that man again who proved to be the hero for the host nation as he nodded past Hamza Alaa in the 103rd minute. Olise added a third in the 108th minute to send France through to the final of the men's football tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Standing in the way of France and Olympic glory on Friday evening is Spain, who also came from behind in the semi-finals to beat Morocco 2-1.

Unlike France, whose defence remained unbreached before Monday, Spain have struggled for clean sheets. La Roja failed to shut out any of Uzbekistan (2-1), the Dominican Republic (3-1) or Egypt (1-2) in the group stage, only managing to shut out Japan (3-0) in the quarter-finals.

The last thing they want to come up against is one of the most in-form forwards in Europe, but they will have to do so as Mateta fronts the France attack alongside Alexandre Lacazette in Paris on Friday.

The Sevran-born striker joined Palace in January 2021 but endured a frustrating few years in south London, scoring just eight times across his first two-and-a-half seasons at the club. He suffered another slow start to the season last year as he was again restricted to fleeting substitute outings, but all that changed upon the appointment of Oliver Glasner as the Eagles' new head coach in February.

Mateta found the net in Glasner's first game, a 3-0 victory over Burnley at Selhurst Park, and ended the campaign with 13 in as many matches to take his season account to 16 in the Premier League, and 19 in all competitions.

The former Lyon and Mainz attacker has taken that confidence with him to the Olympics, and led by Arsenal legend Henry, has made a name for himself on one of the grandest stages of them all.

Mateta has come up clutch in both knockout games so far for Les Bleus, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him keep up his hot streak against Spain in Paris, which is why Mateta to score anytime is my football bet of the day for Friday, August 9.

Offers

We will be Top Price or joint Top Price on France OLY to beat Spain OLY in 90 minutes with selected bookmakers using oddschecker.com for the comparison. (Available from 09:30 Friday)

You can read all our latest Football Bets of the Day at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.