While Canada leaves the Arnold Clark Cup on the back of a 1-0 loss to a notable Spain side, head coach Bev Priestman saw plenty of positives for the Olympic champions.
Despite having half of her roster in pre-season mode back home with their National Women’s Soccer League teams and missing talismanic captain Christine Sinclair and experienced forward Adriana Leon, the sixth-ranked Canadian women tied No. 8 England 1-1 and beat No. 3 Germany 1-0 before running into a stylish Spanish side that played well above its No. 9 ranking.
“I think we’ve taken a step forward,” Priestman stated after Wednesday’s match at a near-empty Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. “I feel like we found ways to get [star fullback] Ashley Lawrence higher [up the pitch]. We’ve got more combinations and more trusted players. I think we’ve widened the depth — I’ve tested more players.
“I said coming into this we’d come away with more European experience. We’ve done that. I’m so glad we attended this tournament. I think we’ve got some massive learnings. And there are some players that really had to step up.”
A triumph Wednesday and Canada (1-1-1) would have won the tournament.
Spain (1-0-2) appeared headed to hoist the trophy until goals by Millie Bright and Fran Kirby in the 84th and 94th minute, respectively, gave England (1-0-2) a 3-1 victory over Germany (0-2-1) in the late game at Molineux.
That left England and Spain tied on points. But the English women got the nod by virtue of a plus-two goal difference, compared to plus-one for Spain. Canada concluded third and Germany fourth.
Spain came as advertised, classy and confident, aggressive on defense and comfortable on the ball in attack.
Star midfielder Alexia Putellas, winner of the Ballon d’Or, Best FIFA Women’s player and UEFA player of the year, pulled the strings for Spain as it extended its unbeaten streak to 19 games (17-0-2) since a 1-0 loss to the U.S. at the SheBelieves Cup in March 2020.
While Spain had more of the ball early on, Canada seemed up to the task and created several chances of its own to start.
But Spain went ahead in the 21st minute after Patri Guijarro stole the ball off Lawrence in midfield. Five passes later it was in the back of the net with a low shot from an unmarked Putellas, who made a stealthy run into the middle of the penalty box and beat Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
