He was never capped for Japan although he played two practice matches against Real Betis and Xerez CD in Spain in September 1993 as a member of the Japan team.
After only collecting seven points from the first 19 games – which led to the sacking of coach José Ángel Ziganda – the club amassed 27 in the remaining 19 with Néstor Gorosito as boss, not good enough however to prevent the drop as last (the club, however, had chances to stay up until the final round, a 1–1 draw at CA Osasuna).
Xerez CD |
Bernal had played almost 100 games of Spanish club football whilst on loan to Albacete Balompié and Xerez in the Spanish lower divisions after graduating from the AIS before playing most of his club football at Reading in England, where he was part of the team that narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the 1994–95 season.
During his career, he has played for domestic clubs FK Budućnost Podgorica, FK Radnički Jugopetrol, FK Rad and FK Zeta, Spanish Getafe CF, CD Ourense and Xerez CD, Mexican Club León, Turkish Altay S.K. and Swedish IFK Malmö.
On 27 October 2010 Higón made his first-team debut, in a Copa del Rey match against Xerez CD, starting and playing 77 minutes in a 3–2 away win (4–4 aggregate success).