Five more years. The Canadian Soccer Association announced Tuesday that it has extended its broadcast agreement with Rogers Sportsnet, a deal that will extend to 2016.

“Even worse is the news of Atiba Hutchinson, which is likely to go under the knife again,” said Rutten (translated from Dutch). “I am very disappointed, Atiba always gives 120 per cent and so we must analyze how good the rehabilitation process has gone. In all probability he should go back to surgery and I am afraid to have lost him for a while.”

For Toronto FC fans, there was the joy of beating Columbus for the first time. And, for neutral fans, there was a fantastic spectacle a 4-2 win for the Reds— a relief in a weekend of non-competitive matches from England (and likely more to come from Spain).

Hart said there are a “couple of areas” where Canada needs to improve, and he will make roster changes ahead of the next couple of qualifiers. But he won’t say exactly what the problem spots are.

If anyone can relate to the tough task that lies ahead for Canadian head coach Stephen Hart in qualifying for the World Cup, it’s Frank Yallop.

So, with that in mind, I did several Ticketmaster searches Wednesday for tickets for the Canada-St. Lucia game on Friday. And it was troubling to see just how easy it was to get large numbers of seats. Want eight seats together in the Canada supporters’ section? Was able to find them in section 117, at the south end of the stadium.

Jonathan Fana capitalized on a defensive error from FCE centre back John Jonke, allowing the Islanders to come out of the match with a 1-1 draw.

Adrian Cann’s knee injury has transformed him from Canadian national team hopeful to superfan. But the Toronto FC central defender is happy to do what he can to rally fan support ahead of Canada’s Friday home date with St. Lucia — the opening of World Cup qualifying. “This game is my passion my life,” said Cann. “But I can do whatever I can to rally support for the team.”

But Sportsnet will not be picking up the Oct. 7 away match to St. Lucia and the Nov. 11 trip to St. Kitts and Nevis. This isn’t unusual; in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, Sportsnet didn’t pick up the broadcasts for Canada’s early-round away fixtures in the Caribbean, either.

In what was a major statement game for his club, home-state product Lamar Neagle scored a hat trick for the Seattle Sounders in a 6-2 win over Eastern Conference leaders Columbus — and earned the Player of the Week nod from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters.