Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger said the players were not too concerned about their 2-1 home defeat to United States on Wednesday, telling ARD TV: "I wouldn't call it a shot across the bows."
Germany had taken an early lead through Mario Gotze at the match in Cologne but goals at the end of each half from Mix Diskerud and substitute Bobby Wood saw Jurgen Klinsmann's men come away with the victory.
It was another impressive result for United States, coming on the back of Friday's 4-3 friendly victory over Netherlands, but Schweinsteiger said the world champions had been lacking in both fitness and motivation.
"I believe that, if we had been up for it and on a normal fitness level, we'd have won the match today," the Bayern Munich midfielder said, referring to the fact that the Bundesliga season had finished in mid-May.
Schweinsteiger did not see the entirety of the second half because he was receiving treatment in the dressing room as the Americans, who also beat Germany in a friendly in 2013, secured victory.
"That's why I can't exactly say how the second half started, but I believe the Americans had one good chance through [Michael] Bradley, and we hit the crossbar right at end," he said.
Schweinsteiger said he was placing more value on the fact the game allowed Germany to rebuild their fitness ahead of Saturday's Euro 2016 qualifier away to Gibraltar.
"The match was very important to help us get back into the rhythm," he said. "Obviously we wanted to win, but you also need to look at where the Americans have come from and where we have, from a fitness perspective.
"I'm sure we will put on a great game against Gibraltar."
Germany can also take heart from the fact coach Joachim Low had fielded an experimental side for the match, with Schweinsteiger and Mesut Ozil the only starters in Cologne who had also begun last year's World Cup final against Argentina.
Bayern midfielder Gotze, who had scored the winner in last summer's final after coming off the bench, got his name on the scoresheet for the first time since March after a disappointing spell of form.
However, he acknowledged that there was much room for improvement, saying: "It was a bit of a shame. If we'd scored those chances early on, it would have been a different story.
"We need to play better football on Saturday so we can avoid getting drawn into a scrap."
Borussia Monchengladbach winger Patrick Hermann, who made his international debut, was one of the few Germany players to make a positive impression and provided the assist for Gotze's goal.
"I'm so happy that I managed to play my first game today," he said. "You always take things from experiences like this, especially in your first game. Things didn't go as well as we would have wanted in the second half."
Low echoed the sentiments expressed by his players, and acknowledged that Klinsmann's men were the superior side towards the end of the match.
"I'm very, very happy with the first half," he said. "At some point in the game, though, we lost our way and could no longer react properly. The USA were very sharp and were better than us."