10th International Book Fair
All week at the Antigua Aduana in San José's barrio Aranjuez, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. 

Sculpture show
Tico artist André Cañas displays work at the Alliance Française in barrio Amón, through July 5, info: 2222-2283.

Jazz jam
Jazz Café Trio, 10 p.m., Jazz Café Escazú, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

The Costa Rican national soccer team scored a definitive 3-0 win over Grenada last night at the Ricardo Saprissa stadium in San José, giving the team their first win in 12 games and sending Costa Rica to the next regional qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup.

The game started with a smart pace, the Tico squad eager to make up for the scrappy first-leg draw with the Caribbean island nation last weekend.

Costa Rica drew first blood with a header in the 18th minute by Alvaro Saborío off a cross from Andrés Núñez. Then in the 31st minute, striker Bryan Ruiz followed-up on a deflected shot, knocking it in from the top of the penalty box for the second goal.

The second half was comparatively tamer as the Ticos settled into their lead.

Costa Rica saw a flurry of shots midway through the second half, including two shots at close range in front of an open net that got knocked wide and over, respectively, that should have gone in.

The team finally capitalized in the 89th minute when an unmarked Randall Azofeifa slipped in a shot at the far post of a wide-open goal for Costa Rica's third goal.

Grenada, while demonstrating no fatal flaws in their play, were nonetheless unable to muster any potent attack. The teams shared possession fairly equally, but Costa Rica outperformed on shots on goal 5 to 0 in the first half, and then an even more lopsided 10 to 1 in the second half.

National team coach Hernan Medford's job was widely considered to be on the line coming into the match, however that now looks secure, at least in the short-term as the Ticos move on to the next qualifying round.

Three of the 35 teams in the North and Central American qualifying region will ultimately qualify for the World Cup finals.

Having qualified for three  of the five past World Cup tournaments, Costa Rica are usually considered a regional force.

Banco Nacional launched a new product that caters to the euro-toting crowd, combining the functions of a savings account with that of an interest-bearing investment tool.

Dubbed Inversión a la vista en euros, the product will join similar ones the state-run bank already provides in dollars and colones.

“The objective is to offer interested clients a greater diversification in currency for their investments and an additional alternative for the management of their funds,” according to Violeta Fernández, Banco Nacional's corporate relations director.

Those interested would have to maintain a €2,000 limit. All withdrawals must be for at least €500. Interest rates range from 1.15 to 1.40 percent.

Wireless: Rubber casing, once the home of copper cable, lies on the side of the road after thieves made off with a kilometer of phone wire in central Pacific communities.

Christopher Wayne |Tico Times

Nearly a kilometer of fiber-optic copper phone cable was recently stolen from hanging wires around the central Pacific Costa Rican towns of Chires and Vista de Mar.

The wire was cut from its rubber casing, which was then discarded and can still be seen on the side of the road.

Local residents believe it was probably wrapped on a spool and carried away in a truck during the night. The cable, belonging to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), had only been recently strung over the last few months.

“The (theft) cost ICE 13,000,000 colones (about $25,000),” said Laura Valverde, head coordinator for telephone services at ICE's Paritta office.

That estimate includes the cost of the cable as well as the labor to install it.

Valverde said there has been an increase in wire cable theft recently.

“Here in Palo Seco (a nearby town), the same type of thing happened twice in one month,” Valverde said. “In all the country, there is the same problem.”

ICE has filed reports to the police on both the Vista de Mar and the Palo Seco incidents, but no one has been apprehended. “This happens in the middle of the night,” said Valverde.