The standard second viewing has been had, so it's time to hand out marks for the US National Team's leave it late win over hosts Switzerland in Basel on Wednesday.

It was an underwhelming show from the Red, White & Blue, but that may have been the point at a slippery European park. The backliners did well, especially considering the ice rink conditions.

We managed to check out some newbies, even if a few of these substitutions took longer than I'd have liked to hit the field.

However, I'll have to leave a wake-up call for we-do-something-interesting-in-attack o'clock because all of our ideas seems to be in early hibernation.

Oh yeah, and we won (as if that will matter when World Cup qualifying opens in eight months). I suppose it was important to break the losing streak, but we really didn't see much progress in performance.

And away we go, felt tip pen in hand...

US Player Ratings

Marcus Hahnemann (6) - Big Marcus didn't have a lot to do, but he was smart enough to know he should come out often on lead and long balls that would skip off the wet turf.

Steve Cherundolo (7) - The clear Man of the Match from my perspective, Stevie C put the virtual shackles on Swiss danger man Tranquillo Barnetta. Perhaps he knew better of his fellow Bundesliga competitor, but Cherundolo only lost the Bayer Leverkusen wing ace once - all the more impressive because of the slick surface. Not only was the US right back in Barnetta's face like paparazzi on LindsayBritneyParis, but he got forward well enough and one nice deep cross was mere centimeters too tall for Taylor Twellman's hairline.

Oguchi Onyewu (6.5) - Given the tall task of shackling FC Basel giant Marco Streller, Gooch spent the opening 45 in his shirt. Onyewu annoyed the striker early and often without fouling, and won all of his battles. Such an effort for 90 minutes would have compelled a 7 from me.

Carlos Bocanegra (6) - The skipper was better in the first half, perhaps suffering a bit when Switzerland traveled via the ground a bit more after the break. This grade could have dropped further when a mistake allowed Blaise Nkufo a good chance to fire, but he recovered to snuff the hesitant forward. Bocanegra also nearly scored late in the opening period, but he probably should have dummied Edu's seeing eye shot instead of redirecting it straight into the keeper's arms.

Eddie Lewis (4.5) - It was a poor opening half hour at left back for Lewis, and the showing didn't really get better when he moved up to his proper flank position. Not only did one of my favorite US players appear slow of foot, but he also looked slow of thought. A poor touch reduced his angle on Twellman's square pass in the box when a one-timer was called for - even the smallest rebound would have been easy pickings for the four 'Nats standing on the doorstep. He's been good for Derby so far this season, but this wasn't encouraging for continued international use.

Maurice Edu (6) - The Toronto FC rookie showed no fear or jitters, and made several key plays. The first half was much better than the second, but it was an impressive debut showing overall, particularly in his reading of the game. Most heartening was the way he calmly worked out of pressure at the back and it was also nice to see him showing some attack skill. Perhaps now that Edu gives us another attractive option, we can stop making Feilhaber play defensive midfield.

Michael Bradley (6) - As always, the Heerenveen midfielder brought calm to the middle of the park. With Switzerland attempting to fly on the wings, he was somewhat invisible in the first half, but came out after halftime to work a quality second. A pair of big moments testified that he is gaining a high quality box-to-box education in the Eredivisie: Bradley hustled back to alter a Barnetta shot in the 66th minute, then moved forward to score the winner in the Swiss keeper's face. One continuing quibble, though - he needs to stay on his feet more often.

Benny Feilhaber (5.5) - When is someone going to notice Benny is a real live pure #10? How hard is this? He will never stop trying on the flank, but will also never feel comfortable there. Just hand Feilhaber the keys one time!

DaMarcus Beasley (5) - Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on Bease - after all, he worked most of his half hour with a knock. Nevertheless, it must be said he didn't provide any pressure to speak of and poorly hit his restarts.

Clint Dempsey (5.5) - Miscast for what seems like the umpteenth time in a row, Deuce worked his tail off - no surprise. Still, it was hardly a game to write home about, knee assist notwithstanding.

Taylor Twellman (5) - Another victim of a bad assignment, Twellman didn't offer much aside from the pass to Lewis. If we are going to play this guy, can we at least give him a chance to succeed by making him the #9? Asking him to be the support striker is a waste of time, as evidence by this tepid performance.

Coach Bob Bradley (4.5) - Sigh... early in Bradley's tenure, I marveled at his ability to make game adjustments when something wasn't working. The problem is this talent doesn't seem to translate to the big picture. Feilhaber on the wing... again? Overlooking Pearce for a man playing out of position... again? Empty bucket formation... again? Dempsey as target man... again? The coach clearly gets this team ready to battle, but my tactical patience is wearing mighty thin. If friendlies are the time to try different things with different players available every time, then why do we keep running the same game plan over and over again? Of course, we had to go and win to cover the problem. Sigh... again.

Subs:

Heath Pearce (6) - Once again, Pearce provided nearly flawless shutdown D on the wing without offering much excitement in attack. The Swiss didn't even bother to work his side much after the break, but he will need to bring more on the overlap to stamp his name on this position.

Danny Califf (5) - In a noticeably sub-par showing for the Aalborg man, he was caught thinking a step behind on more than occasion. Califf was fortunate not to be punished for turning his head the wrong way just as Switzerland took a free kick from the right. He also should have done much better on the free header.

Brad Guzan (6) - The second half keeper did well to deal with a wet ball, and atoned for his error of handling just outside the box by expertly taking the heat off Hakan Yakin's resulting free kick blast.

Freddy Adu (6) - Immediately tried to impose himself on the game, though only given 13 minutes. Freddy went close on a chip after smart run, refused to be bumped off the ball by larger defenders and won a danger free kick. I have never lost my feeling that the teen phenom can eventually live up to his hype, and this sub appearance did nothing to shake that belief. By the way, you can bet your bottom dollar José Antonio Camacho was watching, so look for Adu get some super sub calls for a struggling Benfica offense in the near future.

Danny Szetela (6) - He only had a moment to contribute, but it was his dipping cross that led to the winning goal - certainly enough to claim a passing grade.

Robbie Findley (-) - It's a pity we didn't get enough pitch time to judge the RSL rookie.