Chloe Mustaki has endured enough highs and lows to keep things in perspective, but no one would blame the teak-tough defender for really savouring Friday night's win against Belgium at Aviva Stadium.
Back in 2014, when she was just 19, Mustaki was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. She overcame that to build a fine career at club and international level, but Mustaki admitted in the summer she thought her days with the Republic of Ireland were done until Carla Ward ended a lengthy exile by bringing her to the USA for a pair of June friendlies.
Mustaki did well enough Stateside to keep her place for Friday’s Nations League promotion/relegation play-off first leg against the Belgians, and was foot perfect in a 4-2 win; tough, composed and resilient.
But that would have come as no surprise to anyone who’s tracked the 30-year-old’s career.
She seems to relish the pressure and adversity of high-stakes games, consistently rising to the occasion.
"I am happy," said Mustaki. "I've got to keep raising the level. There's fantastic players in the squad, so I just need to keep performing. I'm delighted to have played.
"Obviously being together away in the US in the end of June, beginning of July helped to have that togetherness.
"We're players and we've been playing together for many years, so although there's not been a competitive game for a while, it never really feels like we've been away from each other for that long.
"There's still more to come from this team. We're disappointed with the two goals that went in. We pride ourselves on our defensive abilities and we obviously conceded two goals so we'll have to review that and try and be a bit more compact and look for that clean sheet on Tuesday."
Tuesday will be difficult, there’s no doubt. Belgium never showed up in Dublin but they are still in the tie and can be a serious force on their own patch.
"If you look at the performance itself, I think it was pretty fantastic for large parts of the game," Mustaki added.
"Credit to Belgium, they are a great side as well and they knew they had to go after it in the second half, which you could see in moments we sustained a lot of pressure. We'll just regroup and look to just be a bit more compact on Tuesday."
That second leg at Den Dreef Stadium will also be a special milestone for Katie McCabe, who's set to win her 100th cap for the Girls in Green.
Mustaki has soldiered with the Tallaght native since they were teenagers.
"What an unbelievable player," she said. "To be just turned 30 and to be having 100 caps under her belt is just fantastic.
"I've played with Katie my whole career. We're the same age. It's been a privilege to see her development and to see her become one of the best players in the world. I'm absolutely delighted for her and I hope it's a memorable night for her on Tuesday.
"Yes, we do (go way back), since 11 or 12 years of age, playing for Leinster together. I'm really happy for her. She deserves it all. She's worked hard. She's moved away from home really early in her career, which would have been tough for her. She's reaping the rewards now."
