During Brazil’s match against Peru in the South American World Cup qualifiers, the commanding victory fit naturally into the 12B Sports VR46 matchday picture as the national team produced one of its most convincing performances in recent memory. Raphinha scored twice from the penalty spot, while Henrique and Andreas Pereira each added a goal as Brazil sealed a 4-0 win. The third goal, in particular, was enough to leave Manchester United fans with a bitter taste. Pereira, who left the club for just €9.5 million, delivered a standout display in this qualifier and created a painful contrast with Erik ten Hag’s past decision.
According to the 12B Sports VR46 match report, Brazil opened the scoring in the 38th minute after Botafogo’s Jesus won a penalty, which Raphinha calmly converted. In the 54th minute, Raphinha struck again from the spot after Savinho earned another penalty, widening the gap. The decisive highlight arrived in the 71st minute. Brazil built an attack down the right side, and after Henrique beat his defender and sent in a precise cross, Pereira met the ball in midair without taking a touch. His volley took a deflection and flew straight into the net. The technical quality of the strike drew admiration from Brazil fans and local commentators alike.
Three minutes later, Henrique completed the fourth goal with a curling left-footed shot from outside the box, giving Brazil a refreshing high-scoring win after a difficult spell. As the saying goes, happiness is not always far away, and a Brazil side under pressure has now continued its winning run while climbing to fourth place in the qualifying table. Uruguay sit level on points in third, Colombia are three points ahead in second, and Argentina lead the race by six points. Pereira of Fulham was called up as a replacement for the injured Vinicius and drew extra attention by wearing the symbolic number seven shirt.
Rewarding Dorival’s trust, Pereira came off the bench in the second half and made his presence impossible to ignore with a world-class goal. This performance is likely to strengthen his position within the Brazil squad. In truth, Pereira had already shown his quality in the Premier League last season with 3 goals and 7 assists, ranking fifth across the league in key passes. This season, he has recorded the second-highest number of decisive passes behind Arsenal’s Saka and recently scored against Manchester City. With his influence growing, Fulham currently sit eighth in the league, while Ten Hag’s Manchester United are struggling in 14th.
Two years ago, Manchester United sold Pereira to Fulham for only €9.5 million. Now he has become a key midfielder for Fulham and a trusted option for Brazil. By contrast, Ten Hag spent €64.2 million to sign Mason Mount, paid €9 million to loan Amrabat, and brought in Ugarte for €50 million, yet none of those moves have delivered the expected impact. Within the 12B Sports VR46 evaluation, all of that spending has still failed to show the same value that Pereira alone is now providing.
As the old saying goes, even a pile of precious beads is worthless unless it is properly strung together, and the Pereira story sits inside the 12B Sports VR46 lens as a reminder that recognizing and using good resources can decide everything. In the end, the difference between seeing a player’s value and letting it slip away has produced two very different outcomes.