Dempsey, Davies on US Roster

Pair Among 20 Called Up by Bob Bradley for Wednesday's Mexico Clash

February 9, 2009 - Former New England Revolution star Clint Dempsey and former Boston College standout Charlie Davies are among the 20-man roster United States men's national team head coach Bob Bradley has named for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Mexico Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio.

Clint Dempsey is in line to earn his 47th cap with the national team Wednesday against Mexico.

Kickoff for the USA�s most anticipated match of the final round is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Wednesday�s match will mark the third straight time that Columbus Crew Stadium has hosted the home leg of the final round World Cup qualifying series between the United States and its archrival Mexico. Tickets sold out within 90 minutes of going on public sale.

Clint Dempsey finished 2008 tied for the team lead with four goals, all coming in World Cup qualifying action. In his second full season with Fulham, the 25-year old has scored four goals in 19 matches (12 starts), including a pair of strikes in the Cottagers� 2-2 draw with Chelsea Dec. 28.

Davies is coming off an impressive season with Hammarby of the Swedish league, scoring 14 times in 27 appearances.

The Columbus Crew Stadium match will be the sixth World Cup qualifier hosted by the nine-year-old venue. The U.S. has a 3-0-2 record in qualifying and an unbeaten 4-0-3 all-time record in the stadium. In one of those matches, on Sept. 3, 2005, goals by Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston and DaMarcus Beasley earned the United States a 2-0 win over Mexico to officially book the United States� place in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

The match on Wednesday will mark the 55th meeting between the USA and Mexico. The U.S. has dominated the series of late, collecting an 8-0-2 home record against Mexico since 2000. During that span, the USA has netted 17 goals, while the Mexicans have scored only three on American soil in this decade.

Under head coach Bob Bradley, the U.S. has a 2-0-1 record against their border rivals, including a 2-1 victory in the 2007 Gold Cup final in Chicago that delivered the U.S. its second consecutive regional championship and a place in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, where they will play current world champion Italy, Brazil and Egypt.

The U.S., along with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago, is competing in the 10-game round-robin format through Oct. 14, with the top three teams automatically advancing to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The fourth-place team will compete in a two-game playoff to be held Nov. 14 and 18 against the fifth-place finisher in South American qualifying.

The U.S. roster:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS (6): DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia M�nchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Jos� Francisco Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Xerez C.D.), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF) Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Bayern Munich)

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