Patrice Bernier facts for kids
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Bernier taking a penalty for the Montreal Impact in 2013
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | September 23, 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Brossard, Quebec, Canada | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| 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) | |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1994–1995 | Canada U17 | 9 | (1) |
| 1998 | Canada U20 | 3 | (1) |
| 1999–2001 | Canada U23 | 13 | (0) |
| 2004–2017 | Canada | 56 | (2) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2018–2019 | Montreal Impact Academy (assistant) | ||
| 2019–2020 | Montreal Impact (assistant) | ||
† Appearances (Goals). |
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Patrice Bernier (born September 23, 1979) is a Canadian former professional soccer player. He was a key player for the Canadian national team for many years. Patrice mostly played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career with the Montreal Impact. He also played for teams in Denmark, Germany, and Norway.
Contents
Patrice Bernier's Soccer Journey
Patrice Bernier started his soccer career playing college soccer in the United States. This was in 1998 and 1999. He played for Syracuse University and their team, the Syracuse Orange.
College Soccer Days
While at Syracuse, Bernier played in 38 games. He scored 12 goals and made 10 assists. This means he helped his teammates score 10 times. In his first year, he was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team. In his second year, he made the All-Big East First Team.
Starting Professional Soccer
In 2000, Bernier joined the original Montreal Impact team. They played in the A-league in Canada. In 2003, he moved to Norway to play for Moss F.K.. He played alongside another Canadian player, Rob Friend.
Patrice actually had a background in hockey before soccer. But he was told he was too short to play at the highest level in hockey.
Time with Tromsø IL
Bernier signed with Tromsø IL in Norway in the summer of 2004. He was bought from Moss F.K. for about €63,000 (around $75,000 USD). He was a very strong midfielder. He was known for being aggressive, having good skills, and passing the ball well. He also had a powerful shot and could run for a long time.
He even had the best stamina test results in Tromsø's history! This was better than even Morten Gamst Pedersen, another famous player. After playing very well, Tromsø turned down a big offer for him. A Turkish club, Beşiktaş, offered about €1.3 million for him.
In 2007, Bernier was one of the best players in the league. He scored two amazing goals against Rosenborg BK, one of Norway's top clubs. Even though Rosenborg won that game, Bernier was named "Man of the Match." Tromsø offered him a new contract, but he wanted to play in a bigger league.
Playing in Germany
On May 28, 2007, Bernier left Tromsø. He moved to Germany to play for 1. FC Kaiserslautern. This team was in the 2. Bundesliga, which is Germany's second-highest soccer league.
Success in Denmark
On June 25, 2008, Bernier signed with the Danish club FC Nordsjælland. On August 14, 2008, he scored the winning goal in a UEFA Cup game. This was against a Scottish club called Queen of the South.
On November 14, 2010, he scored his first goal of the 2010 season. It was the winning goal in a 2–1 home game against Lyngby. His season ended early in May 2011. He had to leave a game against Copenhagen because he broke a bone in his leg.
Bernier played over 90 games for FC Nordsjælland. He helped them win the Danish Cup twice, in 2010 and 2011. The fans of FC Nordsjælland even voted him Player of the Year in 2010!
Short Time with Lyngby Boldklub
On August 24, 2011, Bernier signed a one-year contract with Lyngby Boldklub. He played his first game against his old club, FC Nordsjælland. On October 16, he scored his first goal for Lyngby.
Return to Montreal Impact
On December 19, 2011, Bernier signed a contract to join the Montreal Impact again. This time, the Impact was joining Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2012. He was still with Lyngby Boldklub until their season ended. But he had a special agreement that let him leave for the Impact without a transfer fee.
Bernier scored his first goal for Montreal in MLS on May 5, 2012. It was a 2–0 win against Sporting Kansas City. He was named MLS Player of the Week for a few weeks in 2012. He was also named MLS Player of the Month for August 2012.
Patrice Bernier became the captain of the Montreal Impact. As captain, he led the team to the CONCACAF Champions League final in 2015. They also reached the MLS Eastern Conference final in 2016. They lost that game to Toronto FC.
Patrice Bernier played his last professional soccer game on October 22, 2017. He was 38 years old. The game was against the New England Revolution.
Patrice Bernier's International Career
Patrice Bernier also played for the Canadian national team.
Youth National Teams
He played in the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Ecuador. He and Brad Parker were the only players from that team to later play for the senior national team.
Senior National Team
Bernier made his first appearance for the senior Canadian team in November 2003. This was in a friendly game against the Czech Republic. By December 2009, he had played 43 games for Canada and scored two goals. He reached 50 games for Canada in a friendly match against Jamaica in 2014.
After not playing for the national team for two years, Bernier returned in 2017. He played in a friendly game against Curaçao. The next month, he was the captain for Canada at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He retired from the national team after Canada lost to Jamaica in the quarter-finals.
Patrice Bernier's Life Outside Soccer
Patrice Bernier was born in Brossard, Quebec. His family is from Haiti. His parents are Jean and Gladys Bernier. He became interested in soccer after watching the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. This was the only World Cup Canada had been in until 2022. Soccer was very popular in Haiti, so his family signed him up. He started playing club soccer at AS Brossard. His dad was his first coach.
Patrice Bernier as a Coach
In 2018, just a few weeks after he stopped playing, Bernier became a coach. He was named an assistant coach for different age groups (U13, U15, U17, U19) at the Montreal Impact Academy. In 2019, he became an assistant coach for the first team. He worked under coach Thierry Henry.
In February 2021, he announced he was leaving his role with the first team. He wanted to work in broadcasting. But he still stayed with the club's academy. He became a supervisor for post-training, especially with the Under-23 team.
Patrice Bernier in Broadcasting
In February 2021, Bernier said he would stop coaching for CF Montreal. He became an analyst for TVA Sports, which means he talks about sports on TV.
Patrice Bernier's Hockey Career
Patrice Bernier also played hockey when he was six years old. He played two seasons in a major-junior league called the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He played as a defender. During those seasons, he played for the Val-d'Or Foreurs. He was teammates with future National Hockey League (NHL) players like Steve Bégin and Roberto Luongo. He also played for the Sherbrooke Castors.
In his first season (1996-97), his Val-d'Or Foreurs team made it far in the QMJHL playoffs. They were stopped in the division final by the Hull Olympiques. The Hull Olympiques went on to win the playoffs that year.
He started the next season with Val-d'Or. But after about 40 games, he joined the Sherbrooke Castors. That team did not make it to the playoffs. Bernier decided to stop playing hockey after talking to an agent. The agent told him that no NHL teams were interested in him. In 143 hockey games, he scored 17 goals and had 73 points.
Honours
Club Achievements
FC Nordsjælland
- Danish Cup: 2009–10, 2010–11
Montreal Impact
- Canadian Championship: 2013, 2014
Individual Awards
- Quebec Soccer Hall of Fame: 2017
- Canada Soccer Hall of Fame: 2022
See also
In Spanish: Patrice Bernier para niños
