REPUBLIC OF IRELAND boss Vera Pauw hailed “huge star” Chloe Mustaki after she marked her long-awaited international senior debut with a Player of the Match performance tonight.
Mustaki was one of three players making their bow in tonight’s 1-0 Pinatar Cup semi-final defeat to Russia in La Manga, Spain — the others being 16-year-old clubmate Abbie Larkin and Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Megan Walsh.
Afterwards, Pauw noted that she was “pleasantly surprised by the growth” of the fringe players as she fielded a new-look XI, though insisted that she will play “the best team” and “go for the win” in their final outing at the tournament on Tuesday.
Versatile Shelbourne ace Mustaki was called up to the squad this week after almost two years away, spent working back from an Anterior Cruciate Ligament [ACL] knee injury.
The 26-year-old sustained the horrific setback in training on the eve of a potential senior debut for the Girls In Green in March 2020, and endured a long road to recovery thereafter.
Mustaki, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a type of blood cancer — at the age of 19 and made a full recovery after intensive treatment, detailed her comeback in an in-depth interview with The42 late last year, explaining: “It’s probably the toughest thing I’ve ever had to endure – given my medical history, that’s big to say.”
After a successful league-winning return with the Reds, Mustaki finally got her international career back on track with a composed display tonight, having captained her country at underage and World University Games level.
Well done to our newest recruits to the WNT family ☘️
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) February 19, 2022
💚 Megan Walsh
💚 Chloe Mustaki
💚 Abbie Larkin#RUSIRL | #COYGIG | #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/Q31wBko52g
“We’re actually very emotional, everybody,” Pauw said tonight. “Because she fought back from cancer. Then when she was back, her body was still not stable, we had a lot of work to do.
“Under that pressure, she ruptured her ACL. Then she had a setback because it didn’t recover in the way that we had thought. It’s just amazing – playing her first cap and playing the way that she did, she’s such a huge star, it’s fantastic.”
The Dutch boss also reserved special praise for Walsh, who has “has grown even this week, and she already does so well at club level.” One of the top goalkeepers in the Women’s Super League, Pauw added on the English-born recruit: “We’re very happy she’s chosen Ireland and she has a huge future in front of her.”
On 16-year-old Larkin, who came close to scoring, she noted: “We wanted to know what she was capable of already. She needs to grow – both physically and getting experience in the game – and the key thing is she stays in one piece, as we always say, that she doesn’t get injured at this age. We’re very careful with her and that’s the reason why we took her off.”
This international friendly tournament acts as vital preparation for the resumption of the 2023 World Cup qualifying campaign in April, and after the 2-1 come-from-behind win over higher-ranked Poland on Wednesday and tonight’s narrow defeat to similarly superior Russia, Pauw offered a positive assessment.
“It’s a shame that we lost, but on the other hand I’m proud and pleasantly surprised by the growth of let’s say the second best team – I don’t know how to say it, but the ones who did not play the first match.
“There were 11 new players on the pitch – three debutantes, hardly any experience – supported by Diane Caldwell, Áine O’Gorman and Amber Barrett, with a lot of experience, but overall, we had such a young team and players that faced this level for the first time in their lives.
“I think that we can be proud for the future. The key thing of this game was players who do not get the opportunity to play international football often, that they could get a real good run of it and I think that we’ve done that.
“On Tuesday we go for the win. We go for the best team. For each position, the best balance — a team that we would line up for a qualifier.”
The Girls In Green face Wales next in La Manga in the third-place play-off.
