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Patrice Bernier

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Patrice Bernier
Bernier taking a penalty for the Montreal Impact in 2013
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-09-23) September 23, 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Brossard, Quebec, Canada
Position(s) Midfielder
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Syracuse Orange 38 (12)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2002 Montreal Impact 73 (5)
2003–2004 Moss FK 40 (1)
2004–2007 Tromsø IL 68 (4)
2007–2008 1. FC Kaiserslautern 15 (1)
2008–2011 FC Nordsjælland 76 (3)
2011 Lyngby BK 12 (2)
2012–2017 Montreal Impact 152 (15)
Total 436 (31)
International career‡
1994–1995 Canada U17 9 (1)
1998 Canada U20 3 (1)
1999–2001 Canada U23 13 (0)
2004–2017 Canada 56 (2)
Managerial career
2018–2019 Montreal Impact Academy (assistant)
2019–2020 Montreal Impact (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 22, 2017
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of July 15, 2017

Patrice Bernier (born September 23, 1979) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player. A long-time mainstay of the Canada national team, the midfielder played the majority of his career with Montreal Impact in addition to playing in Denmark, Germany, and Norway.

Club career

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In 1998-99, Bernier played college soccer for Syracuse University in the United States. At Syracuse, Bernier played 38 matches and recorded 34 points with 12 goals and 10 assists. He was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team in his freshman year and the All-Big East First Team in his sophomore year.[1][2]

Bernier played for the original Montreal Impact in the A-league in Canada in 2000.[3] He joined Norwegian side Moss F.K. to play alongside compatriot Rob Friend at the start of the 2003 season. He has some background in hockey, but he was told he was too short to reach the top level.[citation needed]

Tromsø

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Bernier with Canada in 2010

Bernier signed for Tromsø IL in the summer of 2004. He was picked up from the Norwegian 1st division team Moss F.K. for less than 500,000 NOK (approx. €63,000 or $75,000 USD). An almost complete midfielder, he was very aggressive, with good technique, a fine passing foot, heavy shot, and exceptional running capacity. He delivered the best stamina test results in the history of Tromsø, surpassing even former Tromsø player Morten Gamst Pedersen.[citation needed] After a spectacular autumn season and a fine spring for Tromsø, they refused an offer of 10 million NOK (approx. €1.3 million) for him from the Turkish club Beşiktaş.

Bernier started the 2007 season as one of the Tippeliga's best players, scoring two fantastic goals against Norway's best soccer club over the last 20 years, Rosenborg BK. Although Rosenborg went on to win the game with an injury-time goal by Alexander Tettey, Bernier was awarded the "Man of the Match"-prize. Tromsø immediately offered Bernier a new contract; however, he rejected it as he wanted to leave Norway for a better league. Tromsø then put forth an even better deal, but Bernier was determined to leave Tippeligaen.

Kaiserslautern

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On May 28, 2007, Bernier left Tromsø for the German 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Kaiserslautern, where former Vålerenga I.F. Fotball Kjetil Rekdal was the trainer.

Nordsjælland

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On June 25, 2008, Bernier signed a contract with Danish club FC Nordsjælland. On August 14, 2008, he scored the winning goal in the first leg of a UEFA Cup second qualifying round match versus Scottish club, Queen of the South of Dumfries.[4] Bernier scored the winning goal and his first goal of the 2010 season on November 14 in a 2–1 home win over Lyngby. He ended his season early in May against Copenhagen, following an early substitution it was revealed that he suffered a fracture in his fibula.[5] He played over 90 games in all competitions combined with FC Nordsjaelland from the summer of 2008 until the summer of 2011, winning the Danish Cup in 2010 and 2011. He was voted Player of the Year in 2010 by the supporters of FC Nordsjaelland.[6]

Lyngby Boldklub

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On August 24, 2011, Bernier signed a one-year contract with Lyngby Boldklub. He made his debut against his former club, in a 4–0 loss to FCN. On October 16, Bernier scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 loss to Silkeborg IF.[7]

Montreal Impact

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On December 19, 2011, Bernier signed a contract to join Montreal Impact upon their entry into Major League Soccer in 2012.[8][9] He remained under contract with Lyngby Boldklub while they finished their season. However, he had an out clause that allowed him to leave without a transfer fee to the Impact.[10] Bernier scored his first goal for Montreal in a 2–0 away victory against Sporting Kansas City on May 5, 2012.[11] He was named MLS Player of the Week for Week 13–15 in the 2012 MLS. He was also named MLS Player of the Month for the month of August 2012.

Under his captaincy, the Impact reached the CONCACAF Champions League final in 2015 and the MLS Eastern Conference final losing to Toronto FC in 2016. At age 38, he played the final match of his career on October 22, 2017 against the New England Revolution.[12]

International career

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Bernier played at the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Ecuador, alongside Brad Parker. They are the only ones of that squad to make it to the senior team.

He made his senior debut for Canada in a November 2003 friendly match against the Czech Republic. By December 2009, he earned a total of 43 caps, scoring two goals.[13] He reached 50 caps in a friendly against Jamaica on September 9, 2014.[14]

After a two-year absence, Bernier returned to the national team under Octavio Zambrano for a friendly against Curaçao on June 13, 2017.[15] The next month he captained Canada at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup,[16] retiring from the national team after Canada's elimination in the quarter-finals to Jamaica.[17]

Personal life

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Bernier was born in Brossard, Quebec, in a Haitian family to Jean and Gladys Bernier.[18] After watching the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico (the only World Cup that Canada had appeared in until 2022), he was drawn to the sport. His family signed him up for soccer as it was the most popular sport in Haiti. He began his club career at L'Association de Soccer de Brossard (AS Brossard), with his father as his first coach.[2]

Coaching career

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In 2018, a few weeks after his retirement, it was announced that Bernier was named as a U13, U15, U17, and U19 assistant coach at the Montreal Impact Academy.[19] In 2019, he became an assistant coach with the first team under Thierry Henry. In February 2021, he announced he was leaving his role with the first team to take a broadcasting position, but will remain with the club's academy as post-training supervisor, particularly with the Under-23 team.[20]

Broadcasting career

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In February 2021, Bernier announced he would quit his coaching position at CF Montreal to become an analyst for TVA Sports.[21][22]

Hockey career

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Bernier was also placed in hockey at the age of six.[2] He played two seasons in the major-junior Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) as a defender. He spent parts of those seasons with the Val-d'Or Foreurs where he would be teammates with future National Hockey League players Steve Bégin and Roberto Luongo, and the Sherbrooke Castors.

In his first season in 1996-97, Bernier's Val-d'Or Foreurs took part in the QMJHL playoffs and made it through the second round before being eliminated in the division final by the Hull Olympiques, the eventual playoff winners.[23] He began the following season with Val-d'Or, but roughly 40 games later joined the Sherbrooke Castors who failed to qualify for the playoffs.[24] Bernier decided to end his hockey career following discussions with an agent who told him that he lacked interest from any National Hockey League teams. In 143 games, he amassed 17 goals and 73 points.[25]

Honours

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Club

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FC Nordsjælland[26]

Montreal Impact[26]

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Patrice Bernier (1998-1999)". SUAthletics. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d Bambini, Cole (August 30, 2022). "Ex-Syracuse player Patrice Bernier's path to Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame". The Daily Orange. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  3. ^ "Patrice Bernier remains the face of soccer for CF Montréal".
  4. ^ "Club History". Queen of the South. Archived from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  5. ^ Delia-Lavictoire, Yvan (May 19, 2011). "Patrice Bernier out of Gold Cup". Canadiansoccernews.com. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  6. ^ "Patrice Bernier". Montreal Impact. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  7. ^ Clarke, Ian (October 16, 2011). "Across the Pond - October 16, 2011". rednationonline.ca. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  8. ^ "Quebec native Patrice Bernier returns to Montreal". Montreal Impact. December 19, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  9. ^ Roger, Christine (August 19, 2022). "Patrice Bernier, l'éternel capitaine du soccer québécois". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  10. ^ Stein, Amanda (December 19, 2011). "Bernier still under contract with Denmark club but has an out-clause which allows Impact to sign him w/out transfer fees". twitter.com. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  11. ^ Lee Rigg, Zac (May 5, 2012). "Sporting Kansas City 0-2 Montreal Impact: Expansion side surprises hosts". Goal.com. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  12. ^ Sabetti, Nick (October 21, 2017). "Q&A: Montreal Impact captain Patrice Bernier on his retirement". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  13. ^ Mamrud, Roberto (February 29, 2012). "Canada - Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  14. ^ Molinaro, John (September 9, 2014). "Canada shines in 3-1 friendly win over Jamaica". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  15. ^ "Total of 14 MLS players called up by Canada for June 13 friendly vs Curacao". May 30, 2017.
  16. ^ Molinaro, John (July 6, 2017). "Patrice Bernier's journey with Canadian team comes full circle".
  17. ^ Platt, Oliver (July 20, 2017). "Canada 1-2 Jamaica: The Gold Cup dream ends in Arizona".
  18. ^ "Patrice Bernier : D'Haïti en Afrique du Sud" (in French). CBC. January 20, 2010. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  19. ^ Rodriguez, Alicia (November 17, 2017). "Montreal Impact legend Patrice Bernier joins club's academy staff". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  20. ^ Liljenwall, Ari (February 20, 2021). "CF Montréal assistant coach Patrice Bernier steps down to take broadcasting position". Major League Soccer.
  21. ^ "Patrice Bernier quits his position as assistant coach of CF Montreal". montreal.ctvnews.ca. February 20, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  22. ^ Liljenwall, Ari (February 20, 2021). "CF Montréal assistant coach Patrice Bernier steps down to take broadcasting position". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  23. ^ "1996-97 QMJHL Playoff Results at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  24. ^ "1997-98 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League [QMJHL] standings at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  25. ^ "Patrice Bernier hockey statistics and profile at". Hockeydb.com. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  26. ^ a b "P. Bernier". Soccerway. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  27. ^ a b Davidson, Neil (March 1, 2022). "Canada Soccer Hall of Fame adds Rhian Wilkinson, Martina Franko, Patrice Bernier". cbc.ca. The Canadian Press. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
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