An irate Wilfried Zaha has hit back after Jean-Philippe Mateta accused him of ‘laughing’ about his dream to play for France when they were team-mates at Crystal Palace.

Didier Deschamps handed Mateta his senior France debut in the side’s World Cup qualifying win over Azerbaijan last Friday, rewarding the striker for a magnificent run of form at club level.

The prospect of Mateta being called up by Les Bleus may have seemed unrealistic to most Palace fans even a year ago, but the 28-year-old – who lifted the FA Cup last season – has made himself impossible to ignore.

Mateta went on to make his full debut against Iceland three days later and the big centre-forward did his World Cup hopes no harm whatsoever with his performance in Reykjavik, scoring the visitors’ second from close range in a 2-2 draw.

But before he had even played a single minute for his country, Mateta hit the headlines with some comments he made when reflecting on just how far he had come to be able to achieve a lifelong dream.

‘I always believed [in playing for the French national team],’ Mateta told French newspaper L’Equipe ahead of the 3-0 defeat of...