When the Spanish teams travels to Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City for an international friendly on Wednesday night, an unbeaten year will be on the line.
The team has been dominant for the entire year, winning 13 of 15 fixtures, including their 4-0 victory against Italy in the finals of the European championship. The other two matches for Spain were draws against Italy and France.
Spain has been the dominant team in the world the past few years and are considered by some to be the best team ever.
The squad is the reigning 2010 World Cup and 2012 European champions and are ranked number one in the FIFA world rankings. The team also won the 2008 Euro championship, making it the only national club in history to win three major tournaments consecutively.
Spain will rely heavily on forward Juan Mata on Wednesday, who was recalled by the squad from Chelsea.
The team will be resting some players and missing other due to injury. Fernando Torres will sit the game out, as well as Xavi Hernandez, Xabi Alonso, Gerard Pique and Alvaro Arbeloa. Pepe Reina, Nacho Monreal and David Silva will be missing with injuries sustained during the last international break.
The last run for Spain included a 4-0 win at Belarus and a 1-1 home draw to France in World Cup qualifying. Mata was missing from that squad and some critics felt coach Vicente del Bosque didn't select him because he was playing in the Premier League.
"We have three players in Javi Martinez, Santi Cazorla and Mata in this squad," Del Bosque said to ESPN.com. "It is not a handicap that they are playing abroad. There is no problem with borders. It has been good for everyone that youngsters travel abroad, for example in the case of Cesc Fabregas."
Mata expressed his enthusiasm for returning to the squad and was glad his solid play was being recognized. Mata was named Premier League Player of the Month for October.
"On a personal level, the season is going well," Mata said to ESPN.com. "Not being in the last squad was not good news for me. Every player feels happy when they are called up by their national team. The most important thing is to do well with your club. I feel happy as things are going well for me."
Del Bosque added that young Barcelona right-back Martin Montoya and Athletic Bilbao winger Markel Susaeta also deserved call-ups.
"We would like to take many more players, but novelty for novelty's sake gets you nowhere," Del Bosque said. "We have a stable squad, with an obligation to bring players through from the Under-21 side, like Montoya, and others like Susaeta for many reasons.
Although Panama is ranked 46 spots behind Spain in the rankings, the team will not overlook their opponent and plans to treat them with the respect they deserve.
"This team is characterised by having humility and not getting carried away with all the praise,'' Mata said to ESPN.com. "We will continue working with humility and even if the wins keep coming we must always keep our feet on the ground.''
Spain is facing off against Panama for the first time.
"We won't allow ourselves to be surprised, it's a very important game for them," Mata said.
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