Patrice Bernier

Patrice Bernier

Personal information
Date of birth	September 23, 1979 (1979-09-23)
Place of birth	Brossard, Quebec, Canada
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Right Winger, Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Montreal Impact
Number	8
Youth career
1999	Syracuse Orange
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2002	Montreal Impact	73	(5)
2003–2004	Moss F.K.	40	(1)
2004–2007	Tromsø	68	(4)
2007–2008	1. FC Kaiserslautern	15	(1)
2008–2011	FC Nordsjælland	76	(3)
2011	Lyngby BK	12	(2)
2012–	Montreal Impact	0	(0)
National team‡
1994–1995	Canada U-17	9	(1)
1998	Canada U20	3	(1)
1999–2001	Canada U-23	13	(0)
2004–	Canada	46	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2011

Patrice ("Bernie") Bernier (born September 23, 1979 in Brossard, Quebec) is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays in Major League Soccer for Montreal Impact.

A 1.77 cm central midfielder, also capable of playing on the right wing.

Club career

Bernier has played for the Montreal Impact in the A-league in Canada. For one season he played college soccer in the USA, for Syracuse University, in New York. He has some background in Canadian hockey, but he was told he was too short to reach the top level.

He joined Norwegian side Moss F.K. to play alongside compatriot Rob Friend at the start of the 2003 season.

Tromsø

Bernier signed for Tromsø in the summer of 2004. He was picked up from the Norwegian 1st division team Moss F.K. for somewhat less than 500,000 NOK (approx. €63,000 or $75,000 USD.) As an almost complete midfielder, he is very aggressive, has good technique, a fine passing foot, heavy shot and an amazing running capacity. He has delivered the best stamina test result in the history of Tromsø Idrettslag, surpassing even former Tromsø player Morten Gamst Pedersen (now with Blackburn, in the Premier League). After performing an amazing autumn season and a fine spring for the Tromsø side, they refused an offer of 10,000,000 NOK (approx. 1,3 million Euro) for him from the Turkish club Beşiktaş.

Bernier started the 2007 season as one of Tippeliga's best players, scoring two fantastic goals against Norways best football club 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 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.

Kaiserlautern

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

Nordsjælland

On the 25th of June 2008 he 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 2nd qualifying round match versus Scottish club, Queen of the South of Dumfries. Patrice scored the winning goal and his first goal of the 2010 season on November 14 in a 2-1 home win over Lyngby. Bernier ended his season early in May against Copenhagen, following an early substitution it was revealed that he suffered a fracture in his fibula. 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.

Lyngby Boldklub

On 24 August 2011, Patrice 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.

Montreal Impact (MLS)

On December 19, 2011, Bernier signed a contract to join Montreal Impact when they enter Major League Soccer in 2012. He remains under contract with Lyngby Boldklub while they finish their season. However, he has an out clause that allows him to leave without a transfer fee to the Impact.

International career

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 2 goals. He has so far represented Canada in 9 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.

International goals

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	30 June 2009	Oxnard College, Oxnard, USA	Guatemala	2–0	3–0	Friendly match
2	10 July 2009	FIU Stadium, Miami, USA	Costa Rica	1–1	2–2	2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Honours

Club

FC Nordsjælland

• Danish Cup:
  • Winners (2): 2009–10, 2010-11

Hockey

Bernier also played junior ice hockey for the Val-d'Or Foreurs and the Sherbrooke Faucons of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for two seasons, gathering 17 goals and 73 points in 143 games.

External links

• Montreal Impact profile (English)
• Canadian Soccer Association profile (English)
• FC Nordsjælland stats (Danish)
• Danish Superliga stats (Danish)
• Patrice Bernier at Danmarks Radio (Danish)
• Fussballdaten profile (German)
• TIL profile (Norwegian)
• Patrice Bernier at National-Football-Teams.com (English)