Chloe Mustaki has been playing soccer on the international stage since she was just 13 years old, but tells Her Sport with a smile in an exclusive interview that wearing the jersey for her country never gets old. Mustaki plays for Bristol City FC as well as the Irish women's national team, qualified by their recent victories for the playoffs in the 2023 World Cup. In our interview, Mustaki talks us through the "overwhelming" 10 days of her team's qualifying campaign for the World Cup and the emotional reaction of the team to the consecutive 1-0 victories against Slovakia and Finland. Mustaki shares her own delight, rightly saying the team "couldn't have had a better outcome" (because of the team's success, Ireland not only qualified, but can now skip the first round of playoffs). Still, it was a hard-won victory. One challenging factor was the extremely tight turnaround between games, unfamiliar to the team. Mustaki tells us they usually have rest time before five days of preparation on location before the match, but this time they had only a few days between the Finland and the Slovakia victories. Chloe Mustaki talks about the struggles she faced after sustaining a life-altering ACL tear in 2020. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a strong band of tissue connecting the thigh and shin bones; tears are not unusual for soccer players, but are some of the most terrifying injuries an athlete can face because of their severity, often requiring surgery and more than a year of recovery. Mustaki herself took 18 months to recover completely — although she says it should've been faster. When asked what advice she'd give her earlier self, she responds "I would allow myself to be more okay with the time out... I tried to hit metrics too quickly, it took me 18 months to get back when it should've been 14." Mustaki elaborates on her natural attitude, which is to demand results from herself as quickly as possible — an attitude that has made it possible for her to succeed, but one she's also learned to balance with prioritising long-term recovery. Mustaki also shares the different feeling in the locker room before the two matches: the boost — as well as the added pressure — from having friends and family in the audience for the match against Finland, which took place in Tallaght stadium, and the excitement and the confidence the team enjoyed going into the Slovakia match after winning their first fixture. On playing for her country, Mustaki says "it means the world." Watch the full interview now on our YouTube channel, to hear more about her experience. Visit the website https://hersport.ie/ Check out the Her Sport channels Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hersport.ie Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HerSport.ie/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/HerSportDotIE About Her Sport: Her Sport is a media platform centred on bringing the latest Irish and international women’s sports news. Her Sport aims to empower women in sport, inspire more female participation, increase opportunity and level the playing field for future generations. Our objective is to create real and tangible change. Contact us: hello@hersport.ie
