Chloe Mustaki has not fully accustomed to the reality that in just three days she will walk out on the pitch at sold-out Stadium Australia as a member of the first Republic of Ireland squad to feature in a Women’s World Cup.
The 27-year-old’s extraordinary journey to this point has been down a road rife with obstacles, from her cancer diagnosis at the age of 19 to a devastating anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2020 and the lonely Covid-19 lockdown recovery that followed.
But when the Republic’s plane touched down in Australia it all began to crystallise for Bristol City defender Mustaki, who hopes she can tune out the noise of over 80,000 majority-home supporters expected to attend her side’s July 20 opener against World Cup co-hosts the Matildas.
“I don’t think I have an idea of how insane it is going to be,” she admitted during a training session at Brisbane’s Meakin Park.
“I am trying not to think about it too much, trying just to concentrate on the football. At the end of the day, when you walk onto the pitch, everything around you just fades away.
“So, if we can just concentrate and focus and stay connected on the game, whoever is playing on that pitch, hopefully we can come out with the result.
“It will be surreal, and we won’t really believe it until we see it, because it is something that only (captain) Katie (McCabe) and a few others have experienced and we might never experience it again, that amount of people, so we have to savour it.”
Skipper McCabe, who plays her club football with Arsenal, has played big games at major venues like the FA Cup final at Wembley and a Champions League semi-final at the 60,704-seat Emirates, which the Gunners sold out for the first time in May.
Mustaki, on the other hand, reckons the 12,123 who attended the Republic’s World Cup qualifier against Sweden in Gothenburg was the largest crowd to ever watch her play.
She was born in Ohio, USA, but spent most of her youth in Cabinteely, and previously captained the Republic’s Under-19 team that reached the semi-finals of the 2014 European Championship in Norway – where she experienced signs of what would turn out to be Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
Mustaki completed treatment in 2015, and has previously spoken about how that experience shifted her perspective and helped her get through the devastating ACL injury she sustained in training five years later.
Though she was first called up to Republic’s senior squad that same year, rehabilitating the injury meant it took two more before she finally made her senior international debut against Russia in the 2022 Pinatar Cup.
Mustaki took a huge risk last summer, quitting a comfortable job to become a full-time professional footballer when she signed with Bristol City. It paid off when the Robins earned promotion to the Women’s Super League and she signed a new two-year deal in June.
That dream fulfilled, another is now on the horizon as Mustaki’s side, ranked number 22 in the world, prepare to face two of FIFA’s top-10 nations in Group B, Australia and Canada alongside Nigeria, with the two best finishers advancing to the knockout stage.
She said: “Of course, it is in their home nation, they will have a massive support there and they will have prepared very well for us. It will be a battle but we will be ready for it and we love being the underdogs.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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