“I no longer set limits for myself”: Clara Mateo, a best player trophy and a title in sight with Paris FC

It's easy to imagine Clara Mateo's state of mind on the evening of August 3, 2024, the date of the French team's elimination in the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament against Brazil (0-1). In front of her screen, the Nantes native, who started playing football a few kilometers from La Beaujoire, was not part of the Canaries' pitch, not selected in the group of 22 players put together by Hervé Renard, the coach at the time.

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"A big disappointment," sums up the Paris FC striker, who returned to the Blues in the autumn, under the orders of Laurent Bonadei, and brought her total of selections to 33. Barring any surprises, Clara Mateo will also be at Euro 2025 in Switzerland this summer.

Today, there's no need to imagine her state of mind. This Monday, the 27-year-old received the greatest individual distinction of her career, voted best player in the championship at the LFFP (Women's Professional Football League) Trophies. "I'm back down," she smiled on Wednesday over the phone. "It's a lot of pride, an honor. But the collective deadline is coming up quickly, and we have a title to go for." The Coupe de France, in this case, this Saturday in the final against PSG, near Calais, about 600 km from Nantes and even further from the bad memories of the Paris 2024 Games.

"It took me a while to digest it," confides Clara Mateo. "But I returned to the club, even more determined. I was supported and surrounded myself with my loved ones. They are there for me in good times and bad. At one point, I decided not to look back." And to move forward, physically and mentally, towards new goals. Repositioned as a central striker by her coach, Sandrine Soubeyrand, Clara Mateo is having her best season in statistical terms: 18 goals and 8 assists in 19 Arkema Première Ligue matches. Well above the target of ten goals she set for herself before the season.

"I find myself in shooting positions more often," she explains about this change of position. "Then, you have to not ask questions, make the right move. It requires understanding new things in the game, which I feel like I understood quite quickly. You also need complementarity in your runs. A sense of goal? I think I already had that, but being there more often has given me confidence. I've gained more confidence. I ask myself fewer questions in front of goal."

Nor when the only injury of the season (ankle) arrived in mid-February. "I was in good shape," regrets Clara Mateo. "You never know how you're going to come back. But I was taken care of quickly. That allowed me not to fall too far behind. I resumed with still a little apprehension but I quickly found the sensations." The one who leads a career as a "business developer", on a permanent contract at Arkema, alongside her professional life , now aims to taste the sensation of a collective victory, in the Coupe de France this Saturday or in the championship, with the playoffs to come (semi-final against PSG, on May 11).

"We're ready," assures Clara Mateo, who joined Paris FC in 2016 (then called Juvisy). "We're aware we're having a great season. We definitely want a team title. We're trying to develop team play around a real project. Lyon and PSG dominate, but this year we've managed to get closer." Against PSG, the Paris FC players have not lost in five matches, all competitions combined. And are undefeated against OL (two draws, the last on April 12) this season. Enough to fuel strong ambitions. As for Clara Mateo's goal target: "I reached it quickly, so since then, I haven't set myself any limits."