Wilfried Zaha has hit back at former Crystal Palace teammate Jean-Philippe Mateta, who accused him of laughing off his chances of playing for the France national team. The pair shared the locker room at Selhurst Park for two-and-a-half seasons before Zaha left for Galatasaray in 2023.Mateta, who joined Palace in 2021, received his first senior France call-up from manager Didier Deschamps on October 2 for the country’s World Cup qualifying matches. He made his debut as a substitute against Azerbaijan as Les Bleus cruised to a 3-0 victory and marked his debut start with a goal, although they were held to a 2-2 draw by Iceland.Meanwhile, before France began their World Cup qualifying for October, Mateta hit the headlines after saying that some of his Palace teammates had mocked his dream of representing the France senior team, name-checking Zaha.Zaha has now responded to the accusations. The Ivorian took to social media on Wednesday to launch a furious tirade, slamming Mateta for his ‘nasty’ remarks.“I’m sorry, yeah, because my head’s on fire. I’ve got to clear up this Mateta situation because he doesn’t want to,” Zaha began. “I spoke to him and he doesn’t want to, he’s okay with it. This just shows me that these times when I was playing at Crystal Palace and all these people that were watching me, it’s clear that they weren’t happy for me because I never made anyone feel like s***. Everyone knows me. The only time on the pitch is when… I’m passionate and all that stuff… but I’d never bully someone or say someone won’t make it here or won’t make it all. Nothing like that. It’s disgusting when I see that someone who I thought was a friend do that.Clarifying what really happened, Zaha continued:“The conversation that was had was his chances of playing for France way back when he wasn't playing for Palace and there were 10 players that he had this conversation with and as friends, we laughed it off but we were joking around, [saying] that it is going to be difficult, especially with Benzema all these different players playing in those positions. But we never ever once said "you're never going to make it.“So wouldn't you be shocked, especially with football banter with your mates, wouldn't you be shocked if this person asked this to 10 people, I swear to you, 10 Crystal Palace players were there when this conversation was had, wouldn't you be shocked that this person has made out like there was some sort of hate from me? Why would he say my name when there was 10 people there? Is it just because Zaha is the biggest name?He concluded by saying he congratulated Mateta publicly and couldn't understand why he would twist the story.“I do not understand. It's disgusting. I've never hated on anyone. Now I'm getting messages: "Oh you're not laughing now at Mateta." I couldn't care less. Well done to him. I even congratulated him publicly on his Instagram. So to hear that story come out it's like what the f***? Did you dislike me this whole time for you to come out with this, your come up story, "I'm going to use Zaha as my come up story"? Like it's nasty man, it's nasty. This is why I don't have football friends, this is why I keep myself to myself, because how is he going to do that?,” he added.What did Mateta say about Wilfried Zaha on his desire to play for France?It was a dream come true for Mateta when he received the news that he had been invited to represent France in the October internationals. Ahead of the match against Azerbaijan, Mateta told L’Equipe:“I always believed [in playing for the French national team]. At Crystal Palace, right at the start, when I wasn’t even playing, I spoke about the France team in the dressing room and I had team-mates like Wilfried Zaha who were laughing.“They said that I was mad to think about the France team when I wasn’t even playing at Crystal Palace, but I responded saying that it was my objective and that I simply had to play to show what I could do. My dream has always been to play for the France team. I knew that I would get my chance.”Wilfried Zaha, who has since left Palace, currently plays for MLS outfit Charlotte FC after leaving Galatasaray earlier this year.