Canadian women's soccer team ends disappointing year on high note

Canada coach Bev Priestman exits a difficult year with a broad smile on her face.

The 10th-ranked Canadian women ride into 2024 on a three-game winning streak, having won five of six outings since a disappointing World Cup.

Priestman spent most of the year balancing on a knife-edge.

More recently Priestman has had to balance readying her team for next summer's Paris Olympics while honouring captain Christine Sinclair on her farewell tour.

"We've had a tough year, a very very tough year," she said after Tuesday's year-ending 1- 0 win over No. 11 Australia in Sinclair's international swan song. "And what matters the most is actually how much we've reapplied ourselves, got back up."

"There's been a turn," she added. "And we're on it. And we're ready for 2024. You can see there's a real bounceback mindset there that this team has been familiar with in the past."

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Witness 2012, when Sinclair and the Canadians won bronze at the London Olympics after finishing last at the 2011 World Cup.

Next up is the CONCACAF W Gold Cup in February in the U.S., the first step toward Paris where Canada will look to defend its Olympic title.

WATCH | Sinclair plays part in decisive goal of win over Australia:

The Canadians, who went 7-5-1 in 2023, have recorded three consecutive clean sheets and conceded just two goals since the World Cup. For Priestman, it's a return to the Canadian DNA — "when the ball's given away, being really aggressive to win it back."

"Reflecting on the World Cup, with a lot of things going on, I think in many ways we lost our way in that sense," she added. "And it's back. You can see it, you can feel it. The mindset to defend is there. We celebrate