REPUBLIC of Ireland international Chloe Mustaki is a living, breathing, most inspiring parable imaginable for never giving up on your dreams.
She had cancer in 2014.
She suffered a cruciate ligament injury on the eve of making her senior debut for Ireland in 2019.
She was the nominated player who ended up putting manners on Sky Sports presenter Rob Wotton over the ‘Ooh ah up the ‘Ra’ controversy after Ireland had beaten Scotland to clinch their place at the World Cup finals.
She left behind the financial security of a full-time job in Dublin, while also playing part-time for Shelbourne, to sign a one-year professional contract with Bristol City last year, taking a 50 per cent pay cut in the process.
She played a key role in Bristol City winning promotion to the Women’s Super League at the end of the season and was rewarded with a two-year extension.
More recently, she was among the 23 lucky players that will represent Ireland at this month’s Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Born in Ohio to an Irish mother and French father, the family left for Paris when Chloe was one year old.
Her parents later separated, and her mother and Chloe moved and settled in Dublin.
It’s hard to know where to begin with one of Ireland’s most versatile footballers.
“It’s been a pretty crazy handful of years,” says the 28-year-old defender who can also play midfield. “The first bump on my road was my illness with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma which is coming up to nine years now since I was diagnosed.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind in those nine years. Nothing much happened in my life before then!”
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Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
The first inklings of ill-health emerged when she was captaining Ireland at the U19 European Championships in Norway.
Chloe's form dipped during the tournament, but she couldn’t put her finger on why.
A couple of months later – August 2014 – a scan revealed a 6cm tumour on her chest and a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis.
Six months of intense chemotherapy treatment, she was later declared cancer-free. On many levels, the treatment was the easy part for the-then 19-year-old UCD student.
“That was six months of getting through treatment, but then it was how to I reintegrate back into normal life and that was very difficult,” she says.
“I lost all my hair. I took a year out and I went back into a new year at college. Those things might seem small but when you’re 19 years of age they are very big things and you’re going into college wearing a wig. So those things have a massive impact on you. It took me a while to settle back into normal life.
“It has definitely provided me with a lot of perspective. I wouldn’t say it’s changed how I’ve made decisions, but it’s changed how I view what’s happened to me. So, when I did my ACL or when I was injured earlier in the year it allows me to always have perspective because there are still times I have health scares over my Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
“It has negatively affected me in that I will always have that fear of it returning and I’ll always have those memories from that very difficult time in my life.
“I’ve lived and grown through all the experiences I’ve had. It’s maybe made me stronger both mentally and physically and wanting to be better given what I’ve been through.”
She played for Peamount United and UCD Waves before her studies took her to France where she played for Girondins de Bordeaux. She had a spell with Charlton Athletic before relocating back to Dublin during the COVID pandemic and played for Shelbourne.
But she’d got a taste for English football, decided to quit her job in a recruitment firm and signed for Bristol City at the start of last season.
'I’d done enough to walk away from that financial stability'
“My decision to walk away from my full-time job was a level of comfort and satisfaction, that I’d enough education and work experience under my belt to set myself free and have no regrets later in life. I knew I’d have regrets if I didn’t try and go full-time with football.”
“So that’s what I did. I was working for a company in England that gave me time and were flexible and told me that the door was always open and to go live your dream. I have a lot to thank them for because they made the decision easier for me.
“It wasn’t because what had happened to me [having cancer], it was more I’d done enough to walk away from that financial stability.”
She adds: “I have been playing football since the age of six and coming out of school I felt going full-time with football wasn’t really an option for me; I wanted financial stability.
“So, I did four years of an under-graduate, a year of a Masters, two-and-a-half years of work experience and I’d finally broken back into the Ireland set-up after my illness, got in, suffered an ACL tear and was out for a year-and-a-half.
While she mightn’t be first choice as Ireland prepare for next Thursday’s World Cup opener against joint hosts Australia in front of a sold-out 82,000 at Stadium Australia, Sydney (11am Irish time), Chloe’s ability to play in defence or midfield is probably one of the reasons why Vera Pauw has chosen her as part of the 23.
What’s the best thing about playing football?
“That adrenaline you feel on big nights,” she says with a beaming smile.
“I’ll never forget that night in Hampden Park [when Ireland qualified for the World Cup, beating Scotland 1-0]. Years and years of work and to experience those highs. It’s a kick I’ve never experienced before.”
Chloe Mustaki is battling with trying to concentrate on the day-to-day preparations and living in the moment.
“We always strive for more and we’re always looking at the next thing. We have reached the tournament of the utmost importance that you could ever imagine. It’s the World Cup – you can’t beat that, really.
“So, it’s hard to be present, or be in the moment. That’s the most difficult thing as a competitive athlete, because you’re always looking at the next thing. You don’t want it to pass you by, so you’re trying to find a middle ground because we’re so wired to think about what we’re doing next.
“I was injured for quite a few months of the year, and I was spending days and nights crying to my family; how am I going to get back on the pitch because I have tried so hard to get to the World Cup.
“This was four or five months out and I wasn’t even running on the pitch. For me, just making the 23 is unbelievable and I’m absolutely over the moon. Hopefully I’ll get some game-time but at the end of the day I’m here to be a team-mate and to push the girls in training.”
The ‘Ooh ah up the ‘Ra’ controversy – a song the Irish girls sang in the euphoria of qualifying for the World Cup back in October - is rightly old news now, but Chloe earned warm praise for the way in which she handled a series of questions ‘live’ on Sky Sports.
Presenter Rob Wotton asked the Irish international did her team-mates perhaps need “educating” to avoid another embarrassment, she replied: “I don’t really think so. We need to learn in these moments to be better and to do better. [But] We’ve all been brought up knowing a lot about Irish history.”
Nine months on from the controversy, she says: “Look, we all have to step up at different moments for the team. It was a squad effort and, hopefully, I answered in the correct manner and that’s what I was asked to do.”
On being a role model
Given how she handled that ‘live’ interrogation and how she’s overcome cancer and career-threatening injuries, you ask Chloe if she embraces the notion of being a role model.
“It’s an interesting question, but I don’t know how to answer it. Like, I never had role models growing up.
“I think I looked to my mum and my dad and my family members – they were my role models. It’s amazing to think that I could be a role model, but I don’t think about it too much. For me, being a good person is the most important thing in life. My sports aside, if I can be a good person and a role model, that’s what I’d like to be remembered for.”
After securing her spot in the Ireland squad bound for Down Under, Chloe tweeted: ‘An honour and privilege to be representing Ireland at the Women’s World Cup this summer. Never. Give. Up.’
It’s a mantra that has served Chloe Mustaki well.
