It is so tempting to try and take something really significant away from the U.S. men's 1-0 loss to Italy Wednesday in Sicily. So tempting to think, "We had Italy on the run for the better part of 45 minutes, so maybe, just maybe, we can do the same kind of thing to Portugal in June."

It's so tempting because, Wednesday, American soccer fans were treated to a really good show. The kind of soccer show we're just not used to seeing here in the U.S. There were our boys, standing on the same field as the Sunday morning TV show known as the Italian national team, with Del Pierro, Totti and Vieri, in their famous blue-white-blue strips, in a packed, whistling stadium. It was almost like a dream sequence.

And there they were, our boys, running at Italians -- with our teen sensation Landon Donovan hitting the post inside of the first eight minutes, and juking for another good chance that he put over the bar later in the half. Good stuff, really. Thoroughly enjoyable soccer. And it's so tempting to think, "We're ready."

But let's hold on a second. Let's remember this was a "friendly." In other words, "not a real game."

I'm not even going to say the Italians were half-asleep in the first half -- even though that's pretty much what their coach said at the end of the match. That's not my point. On the other side, I'm not going to get into the fact that Italy made four changes at halftime (or one more than they'd be allowed to make in a "real" game), which enabled the Azzurri to turn the pace of the game unrealistically over the final 45 minutes. I'm just going to repeat what I said earlier. This was a friendly game, not a World Cup game.

If you think, just because this was Italy and not, say, South Korea or Poland, that the U.S. is suddenly looking like favorites to advance out of group play, then clearly you've ignored "real" games against teams like Guatemala, Jamaica and Honduras. The games at the World Cup, regardless of the oppostion, are going to be abundantly more difficult than Wednesday's match.

What happened in Sicily was a high-profile training session. There was little (if anything) at stake. Sure, if the U.S. had won, the Italians would've been raked over the coals in the Gazzetta. But it would've been a scolding, a wake-up call -- not a national disaster on par with losing to the U.S. in the Cup.

And right here in the U.S., hopefully, if the boys had pulled out a victory or a draw, we'd have had the common sense to remain calm, to understand that when the first ball is kicked in Korea, nothing we do in these tune-up matches over the next four months is going to mean diddly.

Now that I've got that out of the way, there are three things I do take away from yesterday's match.

No. 1: You learn the importance of taking gifts when they're given to you.

A slip by an Italian defender left Donovan one-on-one with the keeper before anyone had even broken a sweat. Now, this is the type of thing that could present itself in the World Cup. Yes, a Portuguese defender could make a nervous touch five minutes into the World Cup and the Americans could have the same opportunity they had yesterday to put a powerful and confident team down a goal and on its heels. If you don't bury those chances you are not going to pull off miracle results. It's that simple.

No. 2: Good teams often only need one chance.

The U.S. played superbly defensively, all but for one play. David Regis lost a ball on the left sideline. Sure, he was fouled. But there was no call. About two seconds later, the U.S. was picking the ball out of its own net. Game over.

No. 3: The U.S. reminds me a lot of a football team that can move the ball from 20-yard-line to 20-yard-line.

The Americans' build-up game has come a long way in the past decade. For long stretches yesterday, the ball and player movement was something to behold, really classy. But I'm still left to wonder when we're going to master the combination play that leads to scoring chances. When I look back at the Gold Cup, the two players who seemed to have a grasp of the quick one and two-touch plays that lead to chances were Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley. So, maybe we're a World Cup away from seeing that type of play.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade. In fact, I came away from my television Wednesday thinking, "wouldn't it be great if we had a dozen matches like this every year?" It was a good show.

Just not an indicator of anything.

Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at jeff.bradley@espnmag.com.