And suddenly, just like that, there are signs of progress. At the end of a long and desolate year, we may finally be seeing the first little green buds of new life from Canada’s national soccer team.

Let’s not get carried away. It’s bitterly fitting Canada’s best match in ages still ended in a loss, with Slovenia 1-0 the better on Tuesday. This isn’t a team in full bloom—this isn’t even much of a sprout yet. But it’s something, the first signs that coach Benito Floro’s redevelopment has taken root.

Where once Canadian attacks were poorly composed, against Slovenia they were the result of measured build-up play. Where once Canada’s midfield infuriatingly played endless square passes or ran constantly into dead ends, against Slovenia they looked forward, looked decent on the break, kept their heads up and kept everything on the move. Where once there was a defence in perpetual disarray, disorganized and slow, against Slovenia there were signs of order being restored.

But still Canada didn’t score. It’s now been 932 minutes since Marcus Haber’s headed goal in a losing effort against Japan, an agonizing drought that threatens to wilt any confidence Canada takes from improvements elsewhere in their game. It’s not for want of trying, as team captain Dwayne De Rosario said after Friday’s 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic. “We’re obviously creating chances and we’ve just got to finish them. We’ve got to be more clinical.”

Against Slovenia, it was no different. In the first half Kyle Porter could have done better with a weak shot on goal, while De Rosario could hardly have improved a lovely curling effort expertly saved by Jan Oblak. In the second, as Canada pushed hard to grab a late leveller, Issey Nakajima Farran would have been through on goal but for a mistimed first touch.

Such is the margin of Canada’s continued failure to score: a fractionally mistimed run, a poorly taken shot, a saved penalty. But Canada’s chances against Slovenia were well earned by a midfield that controlled the game for spells—no mean feat against the 30th–ranked side in the world. It’s been a long time since Canada’s midfield looked this composed—far longer than it’s been since they scored—even with a midfield going missing several key starters.

As Floro’s team slowly puts block atop block in an agonizing rebuild, you really do get the feeling that once one goal goes in the dam will burst. That moment can’t come soon enough for Canadian fans and, surely, for Canadian players who must be desperate to turn Floro’s work off the pitch into results on it.

There is a great deal more spadework to be done, of course, beyond the lack of goals. Canada’s midfield still gives the ball away far too easily, and still resorts too often to lumping the ball forward towards isolated attackers who can rarely retrieve it. The backline tends to be grabby, prone to mental and positional lapses, and is poor in distributing the ball. Canada looks perpetually vulnerable when defending set pieces, and rarely dangerous when taking them. If Canada wants to live up to it’s potential, the steps that have been taken so far are still outnumbered by those that still need taking.

But in the loss to Slovenia, Canada’s big victory lies in a newfound sense of confidence that the team’s problems are being solved. Slowly things are getting better, slowly Floro’s influence is taking shape, that the team is adjusting. That may not be as immediately satisfying as putting points on the scoreboard, but it lays a foundation for the team to grow.