After stuttering to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Sweden, the US National Team was left in a pensive mood. The match marked the first time since the 2006 World Cup that the Stars & Stripes has played on European shores, and American Soccer Daily spoke with a number of 'Nats after the match.

While Galaxy teammate David Beckham was making headlines with questions over the feasibility of balancing national team travel and the MLS schedule, Landon Donovan's similar juggling act flew under the radar for most. Nevertheless, the former Bayer Leverkusen youth product made the journey of a few thousand miles, along with fellow MLS-ers Jonathan Bornstein and Pablo Mastroeni.

"(Jet lag) is not easy," Donovan told ASD. "It is not an excuse, but you lose that little bit of sharpness that may make the difference."

Speaking of the experience, Donovan added, "This is learning for us. Sure, you want a better result, but you have to learn something first. It wasn't close to perfect tonight, but hopefully the guys will learn a few things. It was not great, but we had a few chances to get into the game."

Rapids veteran Mastroeni echoed similar sentiments, saying, "We have a fairly young team and are trying to find out form. We are working in the right direction and we played positively and tried to create some chances, which is good."

For many, the disappointment of the result was overshadowed by the value of the experience.

"We created some chances, as they did as well," Fulham winger Clint Dempsey told ASD. "At the end of the day, it is about putting chances in the back of the net, but I thought we played good soccer."

The Cottager was forced to cover in a less familiar role as a striker after attackers Brian Ching and Josh Wolff dropped off the roster.

"I don't mind playing up top," Dempsey asserted. "They wanted me to try to win the 50-50 challenges. I had two chances, but I just think that the final cross was not there tonight. I felt like I was involved, personally."

The ex-Revolution star wasn't the only one left wanting slightly more clinical execution, with VfL Wolfsburg young attacker Kamani Hill left in the same crux.

"The game opened up a lot towards the end," Hill described to ASD. "I think if we had capitalized on some of our chances and maybe hit a few better crosses, it could have made a difference."

"At the same time, I thought we were losing the ball in bad spots and that put us on our heels. We kept it close and didn't play our best, but we should have got a better result."

That was the dilemma in attack: execution. But for the defenders, the match provided yet another forum for Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit and Jonathan Spector to stake a claim at a starting berth in manager Bob Bradley's plans.

"A lot of us are still finding out feet and getting used to games like this," DeMerit described to ASD. "It was just one of those games – I thought it slowed down a lot in the second half. It was a good game, and in the first half we had a couple of chances, and they had a couple of chances. They converted and we didn't."

Interestingly, Spector saw the dynamic of halves in exactly the opposite manner. The West Ham multi-position capable right back told ASD, "We came out a little bit sluggish, and I think and it took us a while to get into the game."

"Then the pace picked up and opened up quite a bit in the second half. Especially after they scored, we were pushing on to get a goal and created some pretty good chances. I was disappointed as we would have liked to get a goal out of that game."

While the loss is sure to provide yet another bit of experience in a year that already boasts two major international tournaments and a score of varied friendlies, Bradley and his men won't have too long to rest and analyze the rights and wrongs of Thursday's match. The September 9th date with Brazil at Soldier Field in Chicago is next on the agenda for the Red, White & Blue.