how about the index function?
Code:
#!/usr/bin/perl
$string1 = "asdf asdf foofumbar asdf asdf";
$string2 = "asdf asdf foo.*bar asdf asdf";
$find = "foo.*bar";
print "string1: " . index($string1,$find) . "\n";
print "string2: " . index($string2,$find) . "\n";