I starred for Man Utd but playing in little-known Brazilian league is harder – here are four reasons why
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FORMER Manchester United ace Andreas Pereira has opened up on struggling to adapt to playing in Brazil.
The 27-year-old is now starring for Fulham after joining the club from the Red Devils following a loan spell with Flamengo.
Pereira's time with Flamengo saw him play in Brazil's Serie A and the Copa Libertadores, but also in the Campeonato Carioca, which is the Rio de Janeiro State Championship.
That involved playing matches against smaller Rio-based sides such as Madureira, who play in a tiny 4,000 seater stadium.
Flamengo themselves also often used a smaller stadium for home matches in the Campeonato Carioca matches, rather than the iconic Maracana where they play home matches in Serie A.
And Pereira admitted that playing regional football in the Campeonato Carioca was tougher than playing in the Premier League.
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Pereira revealed that poor quality pitches, the different style of football, not playing at the Maracana, and difficult crowds made it especially tricky.
He told on the Campeonato Carioca: "It was the most difficult adaptation I've had in my career. More difficult than playing in the Premier League.
"The fields are very bad, it's a totally different style of football... And we didn't play at the Maracana, so it was more complicated.
"Playing at 3pm in Madureira is difficult.
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"And the crowd is still getting on their feet, which is normal.
"It was the most difficult time."
Pereira scored eight goals and laid on three assists in 53 games for Flamengo, but none of those were in his eight appearances in the Campeonato Carioca.
Following his loan spell from United, Pereira joined Fulham last summer in a £13million deal.
He has enjoyed a stellar debut campaign in West London, scoring twice and providing six assists in 27 Prem games this campaign.
Speaking on his successful switch to Fulham, Pereira said: "I'm very happy here. I feel like I'm playing my best football. I'm more mature, more experienced.
"I learned a lot from everything that happened at Flamengo, both the good and the difficult moments more."