USA vs. Sweden: Outcome Will Determine How US Women Stack Up for Olympics

While the soccer universe continues to lend all its attention to Euro 2012, the U.S. women's national team will embark on an international friendly versus Sweden to gauge just how much more work they have to do before this summer's games in London.

The USA will take on Sweden at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday as part of the Swedish Invitational, a round-robin tournament involving the top three finishers in the 2011 women's World Cup. It should be an excellent measuring stick for determining how much further the U.S. must go in order to be fully prepared for London 2012. 

The U.S. will start off against Sweden and play Japan on Monday, and as two of the best national teams in the world, the Invitational will certainly be a test—but there could be no better preparation for what's to come this summer.

These two nations have had plenty of practice against each other of late, including in the 2011 World Cup, when Sweden took down the US 2-1 in the group stage. Since then, though, the U.S. has laid a 4-0 drubbing on the Swedes in the 2012 Algarve Cup, so this will be yet another test of who's in better shape for the big stage.  

Despite the fact that the Olympics come just a year after the women's World Cup ends—which means two years of constant traveling and preparation for these teams—the U.S. sees it as an advantage. They never have time to fall out of a rhythm.

The U.S.' Abby Wambach told the Sporting News:

"

For a lot of us it’s a grind in terms of travel. It’s a jam-packed two years of playing, training, traveling and playing, always having to be in some way, shape or form fit, and it’s an emotional roller coaster, up and down.

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It also means, however, that a tough loss can be rectified just a year after it occurs, when the wounds are still fresh and the motivation is still running high.

The U.S. must aim to use that motivation to take down what will be some of their toughest competition this summer. There's nothing wrong with getting a bit of a mental edge before the games start to count again.