U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named a roster of 20 players — including Frankie Hejduk and Robbie Rogers of the MLS Cup-champion Crew — that will train in advance of the Feb. 11 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Mexico at Crew Stadium. Kickoff for the USA’s most anticipated match of the final round is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2, ESPN2 HD and Univision.

Hejduk, now in his fourth qualifying cycle, has eight career appearances and two goals against Mexico, while Rogers hopes to pick up his second international cap in as many games.

The match on Wednesday will mark the third straight time that Crew Stadium has hosted the home leg of the final round World Cup qualifying series between the United States and Mexico. A small selection of tickets are still available.

Preseason training began last week and Crew players and staff wasted no time in getting out and about to visit local community organizations. On Tuesday, Jan. 27, Adam Moffat met with 475 students at Schultz Elementary School in Delaware. He was greeted with Crew fans of all ages, including Principal Susann Sparks who donned a Crew jersey. Adam treated the crowd to a short talk on the importance of education and teamwork and delighted the students with an interactive skills demonstration.

On Friday, January 30, Steven Lenhart and Andy Iro braved the cold to visit the Milo-Grogan Boys & Girls Clubhouse in Columbus. In addition to speaking about important life skills, Steven and Andy worked with participants on dribbling, goaltending and shooting techniques. Check out photos from the guys’ school appearances after the jump.

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Crew fans, remember, a very limited amount of USA vs. Mexico tickets are still available when you become a Crew Soccer Nation Member. Call 614-447-4168 to reserve your seats today! Tickets are going fast so don’t miss out on this opportunity to come see the USA take on Mexico on Feb. 11 and check out the Crew defend its MLS Cup championship throughout the 2009 season!

Howdy folks! Sirk here.

Tucker and I were planning to meet for lunch, but since he had a lot of work to do at Obetz, I’ve set up camp here too. So while Tucker works on visa issues and shouts at automated voice menus for various hotels, and while Rusty spends his day printing jerseys and getting stuff ready to go to Florida, I have plopped down on a leather couch to work on an upcoming preseason Notebook, which should be available soon. It has spiraled out of control, but then again, don’t they all.

Anyway, since I am out here in lovely Obetz, I thought I’d take a moment to pass along two comical locker name plates.

The first is Duncan Oughton’s name plate, which has been updated with his 2008 media guide photo before it got touched up…

The second is the name plate adorning Adam Moffat’s locker…

(I had to take it down and lay it inside his locker because otherwise the glare from the lights made it unreadable in a photograph.)

That’s all for now. I hope everyone has an enjoyable Super Bowl Sunday. Except for Steeler fans, of course.

(Visceral hatred of the Pittsburgh Steelers is a characteristic of the Cleveland-born author of this post and is not an official policy position of the Columbus Crew, who remain neutral on such matters. Except for Clark Hunt. Despite being from Dallas, he’s a Chiefs fan for some reason.)