Dagný Brynjarsdóttir insists West Ham United women’s team need to make sure they learn from their final match of the Perth International Football Cup.
The Hammers were on the wrong end of a 5-2 defeat to Leicester City in the third-place play-off clash at HBF Park on Sunday afternoon, with the Icelandic midfielder playing the full 90 minutes of the contest.
It’s the first time Brynjarsdóttir has completed a full match since May 2023, having given birth to her son, Andreas, in February.
The 33-year-old got her first minutes in front of a crowd since returning on Thursday, and she’s now taken one step further in her journey to full fitness.
While the result wasn't the way that the Irons wanted to end their trip in Perth, the Hella native says there are plenty of positives for the team, and for her personally, to take into the remaining three weeks of pre-season...
We definitely needed to start the game better.
Leicester made a much better start to the game than we did. We needed to come out ready in the first minute, and we needed to be more dangerous in their box.
I think our substitutes did very well when they came on, which is one of the positives that we can take away from today. We were able to get two goals back, but conceding five goals in the game is too much.
We did well in the last game against PSG, but unfortunately we couldn’t build on that showing and build on anything from that game.
I think the extra day of rest that Leicester had is a factor, but I don’t want to make excuses. I think it’s a mindset thing as well. We just need to stay more compact as a team and help each other a bit more.
It’s pre-season, so we’re lucky we can make mistakes now and not be punished for it. We need to make sure we get it fixed before the season starts.
I’m really happy to get my first 90 minutes since giving birth.
My son is only six months old, so I feel as though I’m making really good progress. There’s still a long way to go until I’m back to my best, but I’m proud of where I am.
I’m not going to lie, I didn’t have a lot left in the tank in the final 15 minutes, but I’m really happy I was able to make it through the full game.
It’s my first time here in Australia and I’ve really enjoyed it.
It’s also just really nice to go on a tour as a team and experience a different part of the world. It’s nice to play football in a different country and meet the supporters. We’ve also been able to go out and see the kangaroos and koalas.
You naturally build good relationships from being together for such a long period of time, and I think that you get to know each other as players a lot more too.
As I said previously, my only chance to come on this trip was if my family could join me.
Because I’m breastfeeding Andreas, it meant that things were a little bit more difficult in terms of organisation. I’m very thankful to the Club for making that happen and bringing them here.
I think it’s good to be back in and around the team again. Even though I wasn’t playing, I was around things until Andreas was born. It’s been good to have them here and the girls absolutely love them both - it’s like having 20 babysitters!
