The United States men’s national team’s trial by fire leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa begins on Saturday with their match against fellow World Cup finalist Slovakia followed by a Wednesday match against Denmark.

While the Red, White and Blue was tested in the final CONCACAF hexagonal, the reality was their advancement was really never in doubt.  Despite some close and nervous results down the stretch, the U.S. qualified in the penultimate match and neither their performances nor standing in the region counts for much once on the big stage of the World Cup.

That makes the next seven months and how they prepare critical for the U.S. and their chances to show well in South Africa.  A quick look back to the lead up to the last two World Cups shows how important good preparation against quality opponents can be to a team.

After qualifying for the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, then coach Bruce Arena had his team face off against the likes of Korea Republic, Germany and Ireland on the road while the home schedule boasted Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, Jamaica and a send off match against Holland.

Four years later, the schedule was not as difficult.  While there were matches in Europe against Poland and Germany in March, the majority of preparation friendlies came against teams like Canada, Japan, Guatemala, with a send off tour against the likes of Morocco, Venezuela, and Latvia.

It should be no surprise that the 2002 World Cup team was better prepared and showed better although possibly not as strong a roster largely due to their better preparation.

Current head coach Bob Bradley appears to have corrected this problem from four years ago.  Over the next five days, the U.S. will play two other World Cup finalists in Slovakia and Denmark on the road.  And while these games will be called friendlies in both games each team will be looking to play at full speed and continue finalizing their final rosters.

Vladimir Weiss has put together a strong side that qualified for its first-ever FIFA World Cup by virtue of a first place finish in Group Three of UEFA World Cup qualifying.  The had big wins over group favorites Czech Republic and Poland on the road with the win against Poland coming on the final matchday and allowed Slovakia to narrowly beat out Slovenia for the first place finish.

Slovakia’s roster combines the top domestic talent along with players from other European leagues. 

Midfielder Miroslav Karhan is the team captain and also the nation's all-time leading capwinner with 94 appearances. He's joined by exciting talent in the center of the field, including FC Twente's Miroslav Stoch and Marek Hamsik, who is currently enjoying an excellent season for Napoli in Serie A. The team's leading scorer during qualifying was Stanislav Sestak of VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga, who netted a team high six goals. Slovakia gave up only 10 goals during World Cup qualifying, backstopped by goalkeeper John Mucha and defenders Peter Pekarik - who led the team in minutes played during qualifying – and Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel.

COMPLETE ROSTER BELOW

The most interesting side story to the match might be the father/son tandems.  The U.S. has the Bob and Michael Bradley duo while Slovakia brings their own homegrown feel with the Vladimir Weiss Jr suiting up for the home side.

Kickoff for the USA’s first ever meeting against Slovakia is set for 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET), with live coverage from Tehelne Pole in Bratislava on Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision.

After playing Slovakia it is off to Aarhus, Denmark for the teams’ first meeting on Danish soil.  The teams have played to a 1-1-3 record.

Denmark bettered Portugal and Sweden to finish on top of Group 1 of UEFA World Cup qualifying and earn a berth at the Scandinavian country’s fourth World Cup.

Head coach Morten Olsen will be in his 10th year as Denmark head coach when the World Cup kicks off and is confident he has the players to make a good showing.

“Our main strength is that every player knows exactly what he has to do,” Olsen told FIFA.com. “We have our concept, our philosophy. In addition, we have some key players such as Daniel Agger (Liverpool), Christian Poulsen (Juventus) or Daniel Jensen (Werder Bremen). These are experienced players, which is important, especially for the younger players taking part in their first World Cup. For us, the most important thing is the team.”

Kickoff at NRGi Park is set for 8:30 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. ET), and the match will be broadcast live on the ESPN networks.  Fans can also follow the match live via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and at www.twitter.com/ussoccer.

Slovakia Roster by Position

GOALKEEPERS (3): John Mucha (Legia Warsaw), Ľuboš Kamenár (FC Nantes), Dušan Kuciak (FC Vaslui)

DEFENDERS (7): Marek Cech (West Bromwich Albion), Ján Ďurica (Lokomotiv Moscow), Peter Pekárik (VfL Wolfsburg), Martin Petras (AC Cesena), Kornel Saláta (Slovan Bratislava), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), Radoslav Zabavník (Terek Grozny)

MIDFIELDERS (10):  Marek Hamsik (Napoli), Miroslav Karhan (Mainz), Kamil Kopúnek (Spartak Trnava), Jan Kozak (Slovan Bratislava), George Kucka (Sparta Prague), Marek Sapara (Rosenborg), Miroslav Stoch (FC Twente Enschede), Zdeno Štrba (Škoda Xanthi), Dušan Švento (Red Bull Salzburg), Vladimir Weiss (Manchester City)

FORWARDS (3): Robert Vittek (Lille) Erik Jendrišek (Kaiserslautern), Stanislav Sestak (VfL Bochum)