Motherwell striker Theo Paire is aiming to score as many goals as possible in his bid to secure a place in Canada's squad for this summer's Copa America – and it could spell bad news for Aberdeen on Saturday.
The 24-year-old player received a call-up for the decisive match in the qualifiers against Trinidad and Tobago last month, which qualified Canada for the tournament held in America from June 20 to July 14, and was his first participation in four years.
Paire is very much looking forward to participating not only in the tournament – which will start the opening match against World Cup winners Argentina on June 20, before playing Peru on June 25 and Chile four days later – but also in two friendly matches against the Netherlands on June 6. June and France in 2016. Bordeaux on June 9.
To do that, Paire needs to be at his best, with five league games remaining, starting at Pittodrie on Saturday, where he will hope to add to his tally of 13 goals in 36 games.
“I'm focusing on Motherwell and Canada in the summer, those are the two things I'm constantly thinking about,” he said.
“We want as many points as possible. Aberdeen have taken a lot from us this season and it's time to get rid of them.
“We have five very important games, we want to finish seventh, that's all I'm thinking about, to be honest.
“i know it [Canada call-up] I will be completely dependent on my performance, so I want to give the best performances I can, and score as many goals as possible, to make sure I have a chance to achieve that.
“There are a couple of big friendlies before, and I would really love to be involved in that, but again it will completely depend on how I do in the next five games.
“It's about the size of the game, playing against Argentina themselves – not just Lionel Messi, as everyone says – and other teams as well.
“It's an unbelievable experience and if you come out of that group you get to play against bigger teams as well.
“It's definitely a dream for a player.”
Bear says he has never been happier in football than he is currently at Motherwell, which is reflected in his inclusion in this season's Premier League squad.
The striker believes that he has a lot to learn, and hopes to improve further.
“It is a great honor for me to be recognized by my colleagues,” he said.
“I'm very happy about it, and it's a big change for me as well.
“I always knew I could score goals in this league, so having the opportunity, the platform and all the tools to do that is what I needed.
“The coach, his staff and all my teammates helped me do it.
“I think I'm just learning, there's a lot of things I have to improve, there's still a lot of things I can improve and polish, and things I haven't learned yet.
“I'm excited to keep learning and keep growing as a player.
“If I don't play with my teammates, the goals won't come, right, so everything from the team performance is what got me the goals.
“I wouldn't say I just miraculously score goals. Blair Spittal was probably involved in about 50% of my goals, so I've had a very good season because of that.
“There wasn't a lot of pressure really, it was just going and enjoying your football, that's how you'll get the best results.
“I have never enjoyed football more. This is definitely the best period of football in my life and I want to keep going and see how far I can go.
“It's Motherwell as a whole. The manager has brought the best out of his players, a lot of people have had real success this season and there have been a lot of really good individual and team performances.
“It's a great place for the players, it's a very friendly environment, everyone is very open, very close to each other, we have a very good changing room, we train well and hard and work hard.”
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