‘I’m counting on him’
National coach Zambrano high on veteran Bernier ahead of Curacao friendly
As excited as he is about Canada’s young soccer talent, national team coach Octavio Zambrano has a special fondness for 37-year-old midfielder Patrice Bernier.
And there is a good chance that Bernier will be wearing the captain’s armband when Zambrano, who was hired in March, coaches the squad for the first time on Canadian soil in a friendly June 13th against Curacao at Saputo Stadium.
“There’s a very high possibility that will happen,’’ Zambrano said Thursday at the suburban training centre where Canada will prepare for the match. “If there’s someone who has earned it, it’s him.
“But these things fall into place when you’re in camp and you see the guys day after day and how they perform.’’
It certainly wouldn’t hurt ticket sales to have the popular Montreal Impact captain, a Brossard, Que., native who intends to retire after this season, leading Canada’s squad in the preparation match for this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.
But Zambrano doesn’t see it as a marketing move, particularly after watching him play in the Impact’s 4-2 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps in Voyageurs Cup play on Tuesday night.
“They asked me who do you think is the man of the match and I said Patrice Bernier,’’ the 59-year-old coach said. “It’s his ability to find the right place and make the right pass, not waste any energy unnecessarily or put people under pressure.
“He plays the right ball every time. Very (rarely) do you see Bernier lose a ball. The game I pretend is about fluidity, transistioning the ball from defence to offence in a clever manner, and I’m counting on him. Quite honestly, I might have trouble to replace him when he decides (to retire). I convinced him for the Gold Cup, but after that, I may have another conversation for him to continue a little longer.’’
Canada’s squad will begin training early next week. Zambrano will bring in a large group just to look at players he has yet to work with, then pare the squad down to 18 or 20, mainly the players who will compete when they open Gold Cup play July 7 against Guyana.
Zambrano’s ambitions for the longer term are to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and have a strong team in place if a joint Canada-U.S.Mexico bid for the 2026 tournament succeeds. Canada, ranked 109th in the world (Curacao is 70th), has a long way to go, but the Ecuadorian coach is excited about the young talent that is emerging.
Striker Cyle Larin, 22, is turning heads with Orlando in MLS, and he witnessed 16-year-old midfielder Alphonso Davies score an impressive goal against Montreal for the Whitecaps.