Sometimes in life and football you have to take the road less travelled and believe in yourself even when it feels like no-one else believes in you.

That was the case for Australian born England U19s goalkeeper Elizabeth Durack.

Born to an English mother and raised in Australia, Durack made her way through the Australian elite football pathway, playing in the NSW Premier League, representing the U17WNT at the AFC Championships and then for the Western Sydney Wanderers in the W-League.

However, despite her ability, Durack was never able to become a national team regular and soon found herself on the outer.  Discouraged, but still hopeful, Durack was given a lifeline from an unlikely source;  Harvard University.

Yes, that Harvard.  A name not exactly synonymous with sport or football.  Six months and a lot of hard work later, the 19 year old was voted by UEFA as one of the "Ten top talents" at the UEFA U19 Championships.

We caught up with Durack to look at how events unfolded in a whirlwind 12 months.

Congratulations on your Euros Lizzie.  Tell us how an Australian born goalkeeper found herself between the posts for the England U19 team? 

Thank you very much.  Well it's quite a long story but I will try to give you the most important bits.

My mother was born and raised in Doncaster, England, and therefore this allowed me to play for England.

In late 2012 the English FA sent an email to my coaches at Harvard asking if they had any goalkeepers in their team that had British citizenship and would be eligible for English selection.  Knowing of my family situation, and with my permission, my coaches put my name forward and sent video of me playing to the coaches in England. After lots of paperwork, in January 2013 I was invited to a U19s England training camp and I have been in the team ever since.

How difficult was the decision to choose which country you would represent and were you ever tempted to play for Australia? 

I was a member of the Australian U17s which played in the 2009 AFC Cup and world cup qualifiers.  After that trip, the Australian national team coaches told me that they would be in touch...but they never were in touch again.

Over the 2009-2010 period I was involved with the NSW Institute of Sport squad and at the end of 2010, I was told by the coach that I would "never play international football again" because I wasn't good enough for various reasons.

This was a very difficult time as, if I'm being honest, I did not agree.  Being told at the age of 16 that your dreams of representing your country on an international stage would never come to fruition was hard to accept. And I didn't accept it.

When the opportunity came up in England I leaped at it.  All those who had encouraged me up to that point, including my club the North West Sydney Koalas, the Wanderers, my friends and family, were very supportive of my decision to leave the Australian set up.

The Euro U19s were a great tournament for England as a team as they reached the final.  How did you personally feel you performed during the tournament?  

I'm very happy with how I played in the tournament.  My goalkeeping coach and I have been working very hard on certain aspects of my game and I felt like the hard work paid off.

Our team defended very well which made my job much easier but I was happy to be able to do my part and keep a clean sheet up until extra time of the final.

Durack in action for the Western Sydney Wanderers | Credit: Emily Mogic / TWG Durack in action for the Western Sydney Wanderers | Credit: Emily Mogic / TWG

What did you learn/take away from the experience? 

It was a very different experience for me both in a football sense and in a broader life sense.

To play against teams like France, who essentially had their U17 World Cup winning team from last year, was definitely a steep learning curve.  However, I think the biggest thing I took away from this tournament is how important a strong squad off the pitch is in order to be successful on the pitch.

Prior to the Euros you played for Everton in the FA WSL.  How did that opportunity come about? 

The Everton opportunity came up as a result of me becoming a member of the England U19s squad.  I was willing to make the commitment to move to the UK in order to be a part of the squad and in return the England coaches put out some feelers into clubs and it turned out Everton were in need of a goalkeeper.

I was lucky that it all happened pretty quickly and smoothly, and I can't thank both the England staff and the Everton staff enough for being so helpful and welcoming as I moved away from home.

How has your game evolved in England and how is the FA WSL different to the W-League? 

I think in general there are many similarities between the English style and the Australian style of play, although I would say that Australian players are maybe slightly more physical and English players slightly more technical but really there are not huge differences.

Also, I think because the English league (in some format) has been around for a little longer and because England has such a strong grassroots program (known as centre of excellences in the UK) that there is a greater depth of players so that all eight teams are very competitive in the league and each club has reserves sides that are also good quality.

On top of this, I think it makes a huge difference that the league is much longer and also plays for a League Cup and the FA Cup as well as the League championship, which gives the players many more opportunities to play high level games.

Did you feel you were well prepared coming out of the W-League? 

I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity in my development than playing for the Wanderers in the W-league.  It was fantastic to play with and against some very high quality players and to be in a much more professional environment.  The speed of the game is a step up from the state leagues which was great experience to take into my time playing in England.

You head off to Harvard now.  What will you be studying and how long will you be gone? 

If all goes well I will be graduating four years from now in May 2017.

I am not sure what I plan to major in yet but a couple of things I am currently considering seriously are Psychology and Neurobiology as possibly a lead in to medical school later on.

How will you combine intense study and preparing for the U20 Women's World Cup next year?  Have you discussed this with your manager/college? 

It's going to be a difficult juggle to say the least but I am very lucky to have many amazing people both at Harvard and England who are very supportive of me managing both my academic goals and my football aspirations.

Depending on selection, I will be flown back and forth for national team camps until the Summer break (May-August) when I hope to stay in the UK and re-join Everton.  My England coaches are in contact with my Harvard coaches in order to monitor my progress.

Will you be looking to return to either the FA WSL or the W-League in the future? 

Yes definitely.  Over the northern hemisphere summer I will look to re-join the Everton squad in the FA WSL each year. As for the W-league, I would love to someday return for a season or two but as I am now registered as English by FIFA, I would have to do so as an international player which is a big ask for a coach to use up an international player spot on a younger player like myself.

It's been a whirlwind 12 months what accomplishments make you the proudest? 

Without a doubt I am incredibly proud to be a part of the amazing England U19s.

The girls have been like family to me while I have been in the UK and to come together to perform like that on the international stage is awesome.

Many of the girls have had set backs like me in their time and so it was so it meant so much to all of us to qualify for the world cup and get a silver medal in the Euros after all of us had worked so incredibly hard.