The Canadian women's national soccer team extended its unbeaten streak to eight games after playing Spain to a 0-0 draw in Logroño, Spain, on Friday.
This was the final match for Canada before the team kicks off its 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup journey on June 10 against Cameroon in Montpellier, France, although the women are expected to play at least one intrasquad game during training camp.
A week after beating Mexico 3-0 in a friendly in Toronto, Canada remained steadfast on defense in keeping a second consecutive clean sheet, which pleased head coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller, although he noted that the team still needs to work on things.
"I think it is important to have one of these tests close to the World Cup," Heiner-Møller said, "so, defensively, we were living very fine [but] we're a little bit too eager on the ball and too forceful, but I think offensively we are looking great."
A big part of Canada's unbeaten run (five wins, three draws) has been its stinginess in the defensive end, with the team having allowed just one goal in its eight matches this year. Defense has become the team's foundation as it heads into next month's tournament, and it has honed in on that part of its game during training and in games.
"We communicate a lot [and] we pride ourselves in our defending," defender Shelina Zadorsky said. "We're a 'body on the line' team and we always cover for each other, so I think it's collectively we're a really tight team."
MORE: Five players to watch in the 2018 FIFA Women's World Cup
As with a lot of these types of games, the priority Friday was the team's performance rather than the result. Players are still getting acclimatized after crossing the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday.
"The team is in great shape. I think we put out a good performance," said defender Kadeisha Buchanan, who missed Canada's win last week to participate in the UEFA Women's Champions League final with Lyon. "Better than the last time we played Spain, we lost 1-0 [in 2017]. I think we’ll take this point, yeah.
"I think we are in good shape, we're on a winning streak and it’s great for us for the World Cup."
Canada will continue training in Spain before crossing into southern France in the first week of June. Ranked fifth in the world and having won bronze at the last two Olympic Games, the Canadians will enter the World Cup with their highest expectations ever. The players say they have one goal in mind.
"Yeah, we have really high expectations," Zadorsky said. "Obviously, we want to go out there and win it, but we want to take it game by game and we know it's going to be very challenging, and there will be ups and downs in the road. But we're looking to win it."