After an arduous climb, Mustaki savours view from new heights

Ireland wing back has faced down many challenges to get to her first competitive cap. Helping secure a point in Sweden now has her looking forward

Swede feeling: Chloe Mustaki celebrates a huge point for Ireland and a seminal moment in her own career in Gothenburg on Tuesday night Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Chloe Mustaki’s twitter bio testifies to the willpower she’s developed in the face of adversity.

“It’s not the world that’s against you; it’s you against yourself,” is the creed the Ireland international abides by.

Such has been the litany of set-backs Mustaki had to overcome to reach the new heights of facing Europe’s best team on Tuesday that she’d be entitled to curse her luck.

Being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at 19, within a year of captaining her country at the U19 Euros, was devastating but equally challenging was recovering from a ruptured ACL during the restrictive phase of Covid-19.

Consultant appointments were limited, as were rehab sessions, placing the onus for recovery into her own hands. Determination was a divisive friend; pushing her too far, too fast. When the pain persisted in her knee seven months post-op, she confesses to “freaking out”.

There was a different type of emotion she felt at the Galma Ullevi Stadium (not the absurdity spouted by Northern Ireland manager Kenny Shiels the same night before later apologising), steeped in the sense of reflection.

A first competitive senior cap at 26 against a Swedish side in their pomp as the only home-based player in the Ireland team. When repeated aloud, it illustrates the depth of her comeback.

“I’m very proud of myself as it took a lot of hard work to get here,” she beamed after the 1-1 draw, her smile accompanied by eyes beginning to well up. “I wasn’t sure whether I’d be playing but found out on the day of the game. I was just reflecting that a year ago I was still four or five months away from even getting back on a pitch.

“I only got back playing last August and was doing the punditry for the girls’ matches, so it has come full circle.” 

To even earn her elusive senior debut at the Pinatar Cup against Russia in February ticked off a vital milestone. But getting chosen to marshal the second best in the world on the verge of automatic World Cup qualification, with a bit to spare, suggested the future will look a whole lot brighter than the testing time which came before.

Injuries to others created the opening but she still had to stave off competition to land that left wing-back role. Though she wasn’t a fresh rookie, a level of apprehension did seep in.

“I was terribly nervous,” she admitted. “I am lucky I had quite a lot of underage games at international level under my belt, captaining the under-19 team, and I think that worked in my favour.

“I just needed to believe in myself and, in a way, the pressure was off. I might have been even more nervous if it was Slovakia or Finland because we need results from those games whereas anything we could get from Sweden was a bonus.” 

Being left waiting by manager Vera Pauw meant the nerves were more pronounced on the eve of the Swedish showdown.

“There was talk of myself and another girl playing but once you get into warm-up and get a touch of the ball and you start getting some passes in, the nerves start to settle and it becomes another game of football," Mustaki said. 

“And the fact we were playing the world number two did take the edge off things. There wasn’t much expectation but putting in a massive shift earned is the point.” 

While Pauw is concerned about the majority of her group being out of season for the next assignment in Georgia on June 27, Mustaki will be hitting her stride for domestic champions Shelbourne on a different schedule that runs through the summer.

She doesn’t consider it a fillip but is at least relieved that the few part-time players like herself who have jobs aren’t out of pocket anymore when they report for duty.

“I don’t see myself as having the benefit of playing games because most girls have years and years of full-time football over me,” reasoned Mustaki, who works for Maven, an investment banking firm.

“When I come into camp as a home-based player, I have to step it up, trying to match their level. I work a normal job, train in the evenings and have to ensure I put in the extra work, like training with boys or in the gym, to compete against world-class players at international level.

“That equal pay deal is massive for me and others — it was well overdue. I’ve taken annual leave for this camp and well done to the girls who worked hard to develop a good pathway for all the girls that are coming now. Hopefully, they won’t need to struggle as much as we did in the past.” 

If the emerging bunch want to discover what a real struggle to survive and thrive is, a chat with Mustaki is worth their time.