Despite being recently overlooked by Canada, Montreal Impact midfielder Patrice Bernier is more than willing to play again for his country if called upon.
Bernier, a 33-year-old native of Brossard, Que., has two goals in 49 appearances for the national team since earning his first cap in 2003 and is generally regarded as one of Canada's best midfielders.
He was a key player for the Impact during their Major League Soccer expansion season in 2012, and earned a recall to the Canadian national team after being left out for a time by former coach Stephen Hart.
Hart took notice of Bernier's stellar form for Montreal and gave him playing time in a pair of World Cup qualifiers last September, but didn't use him in the final two matches of the qualifying round the following month. Canada went on to lose 8-1 to Honduras in San Pedro Sula, a disastrous result that eliminated Canada from World Cup contention.
Since the debacle in Honduras, Hart stepped down as coach and Canada played a pair of friendlies in January under interim coach Colin Miller. Bernier didn't make Miller's roster.
Tony Fonseca, the Canadian Soccer Association's technical director, is the current interim coach and will manage Canada in friendlies against Japan on Friday and Belarus on Monday. Fonseca didn't name Bernier to his roster for the games in Qatar. As a result, Bernier will be available to play in the Impact's home match against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
Even though he hasn't played in Canada's last four outings and didn't even make the trip to Doha, Bernier maintains he is still available to play for his country if needed.
"If I get called up, I get called up. If I don't that's fine. I'm available but right now my main focus is on playing (for the Impact)," Bernier said.
He later added: "I've never said no (to Canada), and I won't start now."
Looking ahead, Bernier's next opportunity to represent his country could come this summer during the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which runs from July 7-28.
Playing for Canada would mean he'd be unavailable for MLS duty — Montreal has four games scheduled during the Gold Cup. But Bernier would be willing to temporarily leave the Impact if it meant reaching the 50-cap plateau for Canada.
"I'm hoping to get to 50. That would be a great tally for a Canadian player because we haven't played many games over the years," Bernier stated.
Thus far Bernier has flourished under new Montreal coach Marco Schällibaum, putting in man of the match performances in road wins in Seattle and Portland to open the MLS campaign.
Bernier was used sparingly at the start of last year under former coach Jesse Marsch before he eventually fought his way into the starting line-up and established himself as the Impact's best player in the second half of the season.
Bernier explained that while it took some time to gain Marsch's confidence, Schällibaum gave him his trust straight away.
"Marco gave me responsibility (right from the start). He gave me the responsibility in this new role, he gave me the keys how to play, knowing that I didn't lose the ball much, and that's the first thing he's strict on: being efficient and strict on the ball," Bernier explained.
The biggest change under Schällibaum has been the team's formation, switching to a 4-1-4-1 setup with Bernier playing a holding role between the defence and midfield, instead of his more natural attacking position further up the field.
It's a role that Bernier is dutifully fulfilling for now in hopes that he'll eventually return to his more natural position.
"Marco knows right now that (me playing that position) is best suited for the team and once we move on maybe I'll change to another position and be more offensive," Bernier stated.
"The first and most important thing for me is to be involved … to be involved in dictating the play. I'd like to go further up but right now I think it's going well."
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