Patrice Bernier facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
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. He was a key player for the Canada national team for many years. Patrice played most of his career as a midfielder for the Montreal Impact. He also played for teams in Denmark, Germany, and Norway.

Patrice's Club Soccer Journey

Patrice Bernier started his soccer career playing college soccer in the United States. This was in 1998 and 1999 for Syracuse University. He played 38 games there, scoring 12 goals and making 10 assists. He was recognized as one of the best new players in his first year.

In 2000, Bernier played for the original Montreal Impact team in Canada. He then moved to Norway in 2003 to play for Moss F.K.. Interestingly, Patrice also had a background in hockey. However, he was told he was too short to become a top hockey player.

Playing for Tromsø IL

Bernier playing for Canada in 2010

In the summer of 2004, Bernier joined Tromsø IL, another team in Norway. He was known as a very strong midfielder. He had great technique, passed the ball well, and could shoot powerfully. He was also incredibly fit, even beating the fitness records of other famous players at Tromsø.

After playing very well for Tromsø, a team from Turkey, Beşiktaş, offered a lot of money to buy him. But Tromsø said no because they wanted to keep him. In 2007, Bernier scored two amazing goals against Rosenborg BK, one of Norway's best clubs. Tromsø offered him a new contract, but he wanted to play in an even bigger league.

Moving to Germany and Denmark

On May 28, 2007, Bernier left Norway to play for 1. FC Kaiserslautern in Germany. This team was in the second division of German soccer.

Then, on June 25, 2008, he signed with FC Nordsjælland in Denmark. He scored an important winning goal in a European club competition game in August 2008. He also scored a winning goal in a league game in November 2010. Patrice played over 90 games for FC Nordsjælland. He helped them win the Danish Cup twice, in 2010 and 2011. The fans even voted him Player of the Year in 2010!

Back to Montreal Impact

On December 19, 2011, Patrice Bernier signed a contract to join the new Montreal Impact team. This team was joining Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2012. He scored his first goal for Montreal on May 5, 2012. He was named MLS Player of the Week and Player of the Month that year.

As the team captain, Bernier led the Impact to some big achievements. They reached the final of the CONCACAF Champions League in 2015. They also made it to the MLS Eastern Conference final in 2016. Patrice played his final professional soccer game on October 22, 2017, against the New England Revolution. He was 38 years old when he retired from playing.

Patrice's International Career

Patrice Bernier also played for the Canadian national team. He played in the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Ecuador when he was younger.

He made his first appearance for the senior Canadian team in November 2003. By December 2009, he had played 43 games and scored two goals for Canada. He reached 50 games for his country in September 2014.

After not playing for the national team for two years, Bernier returned in June 2017. He was the captain for Canada at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He retired from international soccer after Canada was eliminated from the tournament in the quarter-finals.

Patrice's Life and Family

Patrice Bernier was born in Brossard, Quebec, Canada. His family is from Haiti. He became interested in soccer after watching the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. This was the only World Cup Canada had played in until 2022. His family signed him up for soccer because it was very popular in Haiti. He started playing club soccer at AS Brossard, and his father was his first coach.

Coaching and Broadcasting

After retiring from playing soccer in 2018, Bernier became an assistant coach at the Montreal Impact Academy. He worked with different age groups, from U13 to U19. In 2019, he became an assistant coach for the first team under famous coach Thierry Henry.

In February 2021, Patrice announced he was leaving his coaching role with the first team. He decided to become a soccer analyst for TVA Sports, a sports television channel. However, he still helps out with the club's academy, especially with the Under-23 team.

Career Statistics

International Games and Goals

The scores show Canada's goals first. The score column shows the score after each goal Bernier scored.

List of international goals scored by Patrice Bernier

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	30 June 2009	Oxnard College Soccer Field, Oxnard, United States	Guatemala	2–0	3–0	Friendly
2	10 July 2009	FIU Stadium, Miami, United States	Costa Rica	1–1	2–2	2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Patrice's Hockey Career

Patrice Bernier also played hockey when he was younger, starting at age six. He played two seasons as a defender in a major junior league called the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He played for the Val-d'Or Foreurs and the Sherbrooke Castors.

In his first season (1996-97), his team, the Val-d'Or Foreurs, made it far in the playoffs. They were eventually eliminated by the Hull Olympiques. He started the next season with Val-d'Or before joining the Sherbrooke Castors. Patrice decided to stop playing hockey after an agent told him that no National Hockey League teams were interested in him. In his hockey career, he played 143 games, scoring 17 goals and getting 73 points.

Awards and Honours

Team Awards

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