COLUMBUS – Columbus Crew SC today announced that it will host Costa Rican First Division side Deportivo Saprissa in an international friendly at MAPFRE Stadium on Tuesday, July 3. Kickoff time is set for 7 p.m. ET.

The friendly match against the Costa Rican side is classified as Special Match A for Crew SC Full Season Ticket Members and is included in their membership.

Tickets for this match are available through multiple match packages and group tickets immediately by calling MAPFRE Stadium ticket office at 614-447-2739. Individual match tickets for this match go on sale on today at 4 p.m. ET online or over the phone at 614-447-2739.

Deportivo Saprissa is set to be Crew SC’s 23rd all-time international friendly. The match will mark the fifth time the Black & Gold face Saprissa overall, as the two sides had previously met in a two-leg CONCACAF Giants Cup series in 2001, and in a two-leg CONCACAF Champions League Series in 2009. In all, Crew SC holds a 1-1-2 all-time record against Deportivo Saprissa. Similarly, the friendly on July 3 will be Saprissa’s third visit to MAPFRE Stadium.

Deportivo Saprissa was founded in 1935 and has competed in the Liga de Futbol de Primera Division – Costa Rica’s First Division – since 1949. Over that span, Saprissa has won 34 First Division titles – more than any other club in Costa Rica – as well as the CONCACAF Champions League on three occasions (1993, 1995, 2005). Additionally, Saprissa has won the UNCAF Interclub Cup – a Central American soccer tournament – on five occasions (1972, 1973, 1978, 1998, 2003). Notably, Deportivo Saprissa was chosen as the International Federation of Football History and Statistics CONCACAF Club of the 20th Century in 2009.

Saprissa most recently won the 2018 Clausura tournament and is set to represent Costa Rica in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League.

2018 will be the eighth consecutive summer that an international opponent has visited MAPFRE Stadium. Crew SC is 12-6-3 all-time in international exhibitions, last facing Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt from Germany in 2017 at MAPFRE Stadium in a match that the Black & Gold won by a score of 1-0.