What a difference a few days make as the United States held on for a 4-3 victory over a weakened German side.

There was some good and some bad of course from the performance which means players are rated both great and poor. Let's remember that the defense did give up three goals, unacceptable on any day.

The United States limped to a 4-2 loss Wednesday against a strong Belgium team in Cleveland and here are the grades

Let's call the game for what is was, a weak performance almost universally with a somewhat flattering final score. So let's make sure we take off those rose colored glasses and take a look at how the players did shall we?

Tony Taylor will be playing for a new team come next season, as he will not renew his contract with Estoril.

Taylor arrived in Portugal in 2009 when Estoril was in the second division and helped the team earn promotion in the 2011-2012 season.

DC United defender and one time US men's national team prospect Robbie Russell has called time on his playing career after 13 years.

Born in Accra, Ghana the former Duke Blue Devil was drafted by Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy, but opted to pursue a soccer career in Europe by signing with Icelandic first division side Breidablik in 2000. Russell then moved on to Norway where he signed for Sogndal in the country's Premier Division, becoming one of the best right backs in the league. After more than 100 appearances for the team, perennial powerhouse Rosenberg signed Russell in 2004, helping the Troll Kids to claim its 19th league title.

Lost in all of last week's drama of Sir Alex Ferguson, Roberto Manchini, & David Moyes was series of milestones for Americans in Europe.

Last Thursday, Jozy Altidore capped a fantastic season after scoring the winner for AZ Aklmaar in a 2-1 victory over PSV Einhoven. Altidore's 31 goals across all competitions is a new record for an American player in Europe but his scoring in the Dutch Cup was staggering. Altidore scored in each of AZ's six cup games and had eight goals in total for the whole tournament, including the winner in the finals.

Brad Guzan's strong year for Aston Villa did not go unnoticed, as the American goalkeeper took home two big end of season awards.

Guzan, 28, took home both the Players' and the Supporters' Player of the Year accolades at the Birmingham club's end-of-season awards dinner.

Stuart Holden is on his way back to the US national team for the first time since 2010.

On Thursday night US national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced on Thursday night on US Soccer's home page that he intended to call up the 27 year old Holden not just for the May-June friendlies and qualifiers but also for this summer's Gold Cup.

Former US U-17 Junior Flores has a contract with Borussia Dortmund and he is looking to start his tenure with the club soon.

Sources told YA that Flores will be training at Borussia Dortmund through the Champions League final on May 25. Flores will attend the Finals as Dortmund take on Bayern Munich on May 25 at Wembley Stadium in London.

There is plenty of Americans that will be playing in important cup games this May.

Today American winger Brian "Cobi' Span played the final 33 minutes for Djurgarden in their 1-0 win over Orgryte in the semifinals of the Swedish Cup. Djurgarden will now face IFK Goteborg in the Cup finals on May 25.

Today was a good day for Americans playing overseas and here are the highlights.

First of all, Michael Bradley went a full 90 for AS Roma in a 3-2 win over Inter Milan in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals. Roma will now face archrivals Lazio in the finals on May 26. The downside is that Bradley will now likely miss the first week of USMNT camp with the friendly against Belgium coming on May 29.