Head coach Frank Klopas has some experience with soccer in El Salvador, and in particular, at the very same stadium in which the Impact will play C.D. FAS tonight in CONCACAF Champions League.
Having made his unofficial debut with the U.S. Men’s national team in 1987 in Olympic qualifying matches (Olympic games don’t count as international caps), the forward/midfielder was a key cog in the U.S. run towards the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
In a match versus El Salvador at the 55,000 seat stadium Estadio Cuscatlán on October 18, 1987, the former AEK Athens man scored on a fantastic strike to help his country to a 4-2 win, which officially qualified the U.S. for the Summer Olympics the following year.
Bernier with team Canada
IMFC captain Patrice Bernier finished third with Canada at the 1994 CONCACAF Under-17 Championships in El Salvador, where he also saw action at El Salvador’s national stadium, and as a result, Canada qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Ecuador 1995.
Bernier will be available for tonight’s game, but unfortunately Klopas won’t be on the sidelines serving a suspension, but he will be somewhere in the stadium to experience another important moment in his soccer career.
