Five days after the US stunned the Dutch in Amsterdam, surely they couldn’t pull off the same trick again in Germany against the World Champions?

Once again, some doubts have been quelled by the US in these tough European environments. Or, similarly, Michael Bradley is still as good if not better than he’s ever been. When he has the license to go forward and be the leader of the attack, it’s hard to stop him once he’s found space, and Germany offered him too much space. His assist on the Mix Diskerud goal was world-class, and he drove the US forward in other instances too. He was the best player on the park, and without him, this team is a shell of itself.

Defensively, this team was far better organized than they were on Friday. There were lapses sure, but once the pace dropped as Germany relaxed their intensity, the shape of the team was far better. It also helps that Kyle Beckerman, who is still the best defensive midfielder in the pool as of now, helped add the steel that the team needed since they had been once again run through in midfield far too often.

Once again, Jordan Morris, Bobby Wood and DeAndre Yedlin stood out in the second half. Yedlin while not getting the minutes at Spurs is using his speed in better ways than he did at his time in Seattle, and his tactical acumen is growing. Bobby Wood, one of the players I have personally been critical of his inclusion in the team, produced another great finish today and may have earned some admirers as his club situation is in flux.

And Morris, I’d be surprised at this point if he is in fact playing at Stanford this fall. What he says is one thing, what he’s doing on the pitch is another. He won’t get much credit for it, but the dummy that lead Wood in on goal was something someone who is playing college soccer doesn’t do. His combination of technical quality, intelligence and speed is something that is going to earn him a good move to Europe sooner rather than later. He’s one of the Klinsmann experiments that has paid off in more ways than one.

All of this being said, this is still post-season friendlies, against less than full strength opposition. With all of the substitutions being made, the flow of these matches can change dramatically, and today was another example. Germany was not Germany in the second half, even though some of the players are still supremely gifted. What this does do is instill confidence going forward that the US can win these difficult road friendlies against European opposition, even in the circumstances.

It’s been a good month for the entire national team program. The U-20’s have reached the furthest stage in a World Cup for them in eight years, the women won a game in which they didn’t play all that well, the skeleton U-23’s finished third at Toulon, and the senior men have won two seemingly improbably friendlies at major European powers.

And of course, the country also started taking down FIFA. Not a bad time to be an American soccer fan.

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