USA vs. Germany: Perspective Is Important with Americans' Big Friendly Win

You can't get too high after big victories, nor can you get too low after demoralizing defeats. The United States would be smart to follow that line of thinking.

After what was an embarrassing 4-2 loss to Belgium on Wednesday, the U.S. turned right around and beat Germany, 4-3, on Sunday. The results could hardly represent a bigger contrast in terms of the Americans' performances.

Against what was a very strong Belgium side, the United States looked poor in their buildup play and made multiple foolish mistakes at the back. Although they surrendered a pair of late goals, they were very good on both sides of the ball against Germany.

The New York Times' Brian Sciaretta pointed out that Germany was full of talented players, despite it not being their best squad:

Winning a match like this is important toward building some momentum for the United States. It's important to remember, though, that this was just a friendly.

Men in Blazers had some fun with the idea that friendlies are a great indicator for the future:

The Germans lost, 5-1, to England in Munich back in 2001. It was hailed as a massive win by the England and still remembered quite fondly.

Of course, that was the beginning of Germany's overhaul that saw them become one of the best countries in the world. Meanwhile, England has gotten themselves no closer to either a World Cup or European Championship. It seems like Germany got the last laugh.

One match is still just one match. It's great that the United States beat such a high-profile opponent on American soil, but there's still a long way to go for the U.S. to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Jurgen Klinsmann still has plenty of issues to sort out before he starts booking that trip to Brazil.

The United States had a bit of trouble qualifying for the "Hex" and looked very bad at times trying to get there. After finally getting through, they went into San Pedro Sula and lost, 2-1, to Honduras.

It's that encouraging the Americans found the back of the net four times, but goalscoring should still be a bit of a concern going forward. Clint Dempsey's two goals were nice, but they shouldn't cover up for the fact that on the whole, he's failed to carry his club form over to the national team. The same goes for Jozy Altidore.

Klinsmann can't be off the hook himself as he's looked out of his depth more than once since taking over as coach of the national team.

Despite their standing in world football, Germany have been prone to some poor results as well. They surrendered four unanswered goals to Sweden in a 4-4 draw back in October 2012, lost, 3-1, to Argentina at home after Ron-Robert Zieler's sending-off and failed to impress in a 0-0 draw against the Netherlands.

This is not to say that the friendly should simply be forgotten or that U.S. supporters shouldn't be happy after this win. Aside from the goals, it was great to see Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley play so well together. Jones has seemed a yellow card waiting to happen but was much more composed in Sunday's match.

Until too many people start jumping on the American bandwagon, they should see how the World Cup qualifying matches against Jamaica, Panama and Honduras unfold. They'll offer a much better picture of where the United States stands.