Columbus Crew SC will host Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa in an international friendly on Tuesday, July 3 at MAPFRE Stadium. The match is set for a 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff.
Tuesday’s contest will be Crew SC’s 23rd all-time international friendly, as well as the fifth time the Black & Gold will face Saprissa. Similarly, tomorrow’s match will mark Saprissa’s third visit to MAPFRE Stadium.
Crew SC holds a 1-1-2 all-time record against Saprissa. The Black & Gold suffered a 2-0 defeat in Costa Rica on April 4, 2001, while drawing 1-1 in Columbus on April 11, 2001 during a two-leg CONCACAF Giants Cup series. Additionally, the teams met in the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League group stage, with Crew SC defeating Deportivo Saprissa 1-0 at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa on September 16, 2009, before playing to a 1-1 draw at MAPFRE Stadium on September 29, 2009.
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) and the UNCAF Interclub Cup - a Central American soccer tournament – on five occasions (1972, 1973, 1978, 1998, 2003).
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 has an all-time record of 12-6-3 in international friendlies at home, last facing Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt from Germany in 2017 in a match that the Black & Gold won by a score of 1-0.
Crew SC returns to MLS action on Saturday, July 7, when it travels to StubHub Center to face the LA Galaxy. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. ET.
