I really hope he's right, but I'm bothered by more than the Czech game - we lost to Morocco 1-0 and only beat Latvia 1-0 before getting mauled by the Czechs. Why does that lead to optimism?
That being said, I'd like to watch the US game again after listening to Arena on XM radio the other night. He said that we played better than the score showed, that our defense actually did a good job, and did better in the first half than the 2nd, and commented that the Czechs only got into our third 4 times in the entire first half. Stats show we had possession 55% of the time.
Germany was beaten 5-1 in Munich by England in WC Qualifying in 2001 and had to win a playoff to make the WC. They then had trouble getting through the group stages and were outplayed by the USA, with a USA Goal stopped by Frings's hand. Nevertheless they made the Finals.
One game at a time.
Those games are less meaningful than NFL exhibition games, they mean nothing. Just something for the players to do to pass the time.