Considered one of Australia's most exciting prospects, Ella O'Grady has detailed her journey to the U20s Women's World Cup, which saw her nearly miss out on the tournament due to several injury issues.
As the U20 Women's World Cup takes place in Colombia and Australia looks to go far in the tournament, Zero Digital Sports spoke exclusively to Ella O'Grady about her journey to the World Cup and what is driving them to emerge victorious.
Born in Dandenong, Melbourne, Ella O'Grady moved to Brisbane, Queensland, at age eight, where she enhanced her skills through the Football Queensland system for Eastern Suburbs and QIS and was discovered by Melbourne Victory coach Jeff Hopkins.
Speaking toย Zero Digital Sports, O'Grady revealed that her inclusion in the squad showed that all her hard work had paid off, and "it's everything you dream of as a little kid."
"My parents always told me that as a kid, I never watched kid shows. I would always just put the channel to football games," O'Grady told this publication.
"I started walking and had a ball at my feet and then started as a three-year-old in my brother's team, and ever since then, I knew that was the path I wanted to take.
"My dad used to play when he was younger down in Victoria NPL, so I kind of followed his footpath. It's everything you dream of as a little kid."
However, her journey to the World Cup hasn't been smooth sailing. She missed a significant chunk of last season's Women's A-League season due to injuries that took a toll on her physically and mentally.
To make matters worse, the injuries came as she was living away from home and her family and friends.
"Mentally was the main focus. Once I did my hammy, I was only meant to be out for a little bit and then progressed into eventually six months after doing it a second time," she said.
"I think I took a step back and just focused on what my main goal was to get to and wipe the first season clean and focus on getting healthy but the mental part was definitely the primary focus.
"After getting that long-term injury, my focus was to get back into the national team. That's why I made the move up to Sydney when the off-season started, getting fit and then developing my football under Leah (Blaney) - that was the main part of finishing my recovery."
Idolising United States superstar attacker Alex Morgan, O'Grady appeared in seven matches in her maiden A-League season for the Melbourne Victory, where she scored two goals, including one in her first game.
"Ella O'Grady's a supreme talent," coach Lean Blaney toldย Zero Digital Sports.
"Unfortunately, a few injuries in the A-League didn't allow the Australian community to see her true potential.
"She's been with us throughout the cycle. She's in our Future Matildas program at the moment, training regularly and in extremely good form, scoring multiple goals week in and week out against a lot of the boy's teams we play.
"It's exciting to have her back for the Youth World Cup, and it's exciting fans will see her at the Youth World Cup, but you'll also see them here in our Liberty A-League after the World Cup."
After being defeated by Colombia last week, Australia will face off against Mexico on Wednesday morning at 8:00 (AEST) before finishing off the group stage with a match against Cameroon on Saturday at 8:00 (AEST).
