The Vancouver Whitecaps confirmed Thursday that 2011 top draft pick Omar Salgado is already in England to train with Fulham of the English Premier League.

“I think the first 10 minutes we knew St. Kitts was a fast team and they work hard,” midfielder Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault said. “Sometimes we had a couple of problems but those games happen. We just have to keep our head up and be prepared for the next round.”

So, Mississauga, Ont.’s Simeon Jackson — who came on as 76th-minute sub for the Canaries, and Brampton, Ont’s Junior Hoilett, who scored just before halftime to give Blackburn a 1-0 lead, had to settle for the draw.

Canada likely won’t have reigning national player of the year Atiba Hutchinson available for the beginning of the World Cup qualifying schedule. Canadian national team coach Stephen Hart said in a conference call Thursday that Hutchinson is still recovering from meniscus surgery in June. The injury forced Hutchinson to miss two of Canada’s three games at the Gold Cup.

Sometimes, you just have to wonder if artificial surface is preferable to temporary grass fields. Manchester City beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 Monday night in their Herbalife World Football Challenge friendly at Empire Field. But the talk of the match won’t be the audacious strike from Shaun Wright-Phillips that gave Man City the win. It won’t be on an impressive …

Last season, there were 58 draws in MLS play. In 2011 — at just the halfway mark of the season, we are now at a whopping 64 draws. With six of this past week’s nine games ending up in draws — including both matches played as part of a July 4 doubleheader broadcast on ESPN2 — 2011 continues to show parity in MLS like we have never seen before.

The Vancouver Whitecaps are trying to use their strong links with Tottenham to their benefit. The MLS club confirmed today that Irish fullback Cian Hughton is on a 10-day trial. He’s the son of former Newcastle United manager Chris Hughton, who was sacked during the 2010-11 campaign.

DeMerit played in the Premier League with Watford, but archived Premier League footage costs, gulp, $20,000 per minute. And the film just can’t work without game footage. Money has to be paid to the national federations if they use footage of DeMerit playing for the U.S. national side. So, as more and more artists look to fans to finance their projects, DeMerit and the two filmmakers are taking it a step further. They doing a little more than simply reaching out to fans to help fund the project. So far, a total of 437 fans have pledged US$51,374 (as of the morning of May 25) to help get the film ready for distribution. But they will be guaranteed merchandise from the movie, soccer gear or even autographed memorabilia depending on how much they spend

Canadian men’s national team coach Stephen Hart held a conference call Tuesday to discuss the team’s preparation ahead of the Gold Cup and the June 1 friendly against Ecuador at BMO Field. Hart touched on a number of topics, from mixed messages over the availability of attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario for the Gold Cup, where Simeon Jackson will play in the Canadian lineup and the possibility that Montreal Impact or FC Edmonton players could get call-ups.

Simeon Jackson will likely be plying his trade in the English Premier League next season. Jackson’s second-half goal gave Norwich City a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth in the penultimate match of the League Championship season, ensuring the Canaries will finish second in the table and earn automatic promotion to the Premiership.