Daniel Pereira Gil (born 14 July 2000) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Austin FC of Major League Soccer. After playing two seasons with the Virginia Tech Hokies, Pereira was selected by Austin FC with the first overall pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft.
Youth and college Pereira was born in Caracas, Venezuela, but at the age of 15 emigrated to the United States, where he settled in the Roanoke metropolitan area of Southwest Virginia. Prior to emigrating to the U.S., Pereira played for the Venezuelan U-14 and U-17 national teams.
In high school, Pereira played club soccer for Virginia Blue Ridge Star and high school soccer for Northside High School. While at Northside, Pereira was named the 2019 Virginia High School League Class 3 Boys' Soccer Player of the Year.
Ahead of the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Pereira signed a National Letter of Intent to play college soccer for Virginia Tech. During his freshman season, Pereira started in all 19 matches, scoring five goals and providing five assists. During the season, the Hokies were ranked as high as ninth in the United Soccer Coaches poll. Virginia Tech reached the third round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, before falling to Stanford.
His sophomore season was more truncated due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, during the fall segment of the season, Pereira started in all seven of the team's matches, providing a goal and an assist.
