Columbus Crew SC today announced that defender Waylon Francis has received an international call-up from the Costa Rica National Team and head coach Oscar Ramirez ahead of a pair of friendlies.
The Ticos are slated to play against Brazil on Saturday, September 5 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey before hosting Uruguay on Tuesday, September 8 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Francis has earned two caps all-time for Costa Rica, with his first coming in the Group Stage of the 2013 Copa Centroamericana, and his second on March 26 of this year with a start in a friendly against Paraguay. He was a part of the Ticos' final 23-man roster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The defender becomes the ninth member of the Black & Gold to receive an international call-up within the last week, joining Kei Kamara (Sierra Leone), Harrison Afful (Ghana), Sergio Campbell (Jamaica), Kevan George (Trinidad and Tobago), Cedrick Mabwati (DR Congo), Justin Meram (Iraq), Ben Swanson (United States Under-20) and Wil Trapp (United States Under-23). The nine are among a contingent of players from Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter’s squad to earn international call-ups in 2015, also including Kristinn Steindorsson (Iceland) and Romain Gall (United States U-20). Crew SC’s roster also features Jack McInerney and Michael Parkhurst (both United States) as well as Emanuel Pogatetz (Austria) with senior National Team call-ups.
Crew SC returns home to MAPFRE Stadium to take-on FC Dallas in a nationally televised match set to kick-off at 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 6 (FOX Sports 1 / CD102.5 FM / La Mega FM 103.1).
