New Delhi: Portugal’s centre-back announced retirement at 41 from football a month after becoming the oldest player in the European Championship. In his last appearance on the football pitch, Portugal lost the quarter-finals of the UEFA Euro 2024 to France. He is among the most highly decorated footballers, with 34 trophies across 23 professional seasons.
Taking to social media on Thursday, Pepe thanked everyone, including club and national team Presidents and employees, who had helped him throughout his career. In the Champions League last year, he became one of the oldest scorers ever when he found the net for Porto against Antwerp during the group stages.
🚨🇵🇹 OFFICIAL: Pepe announces his retirement at 41 years old.
878 games, 34 trophies and one of the best defenders around for years…
Legend. 🍷✨ pic.twitter.com/YDrl6BBa6g
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 8, 2024
His time with Real Madrid is perhaps the highlight of his career, making 334 appearances for the club and was crucial in making Madrid a dominating European team. In the 10 seasons he played for Real Madrid, he won three La Liga titles, three Champion League trophies and two FIFA Club World Cups. Joining the Spanish side from Porto in 2007, Pepe left Madrid and played a year with the Turkish side Besiktas before returning to his Portuguese club in 2019 until now. In his two stints with the club, Pepe won four Primeira Liga trophies.
Former Real Madrid and Portugal teammate Christiano Ronaldo also took to social media and expressed his gratitude for playing alongside Pepe. He added that they had won everything on the pitch, but their “biggest triumph” was the friendship they had built over the years.
He made 141 appearances for his country and won the Euro 2016 with Portugal. He was the third-most cap player behind Joao Moutinho (146) and Ronaldo (212), making his senior team debut in 2007, and appeared in five Euros and four World Cups. He was notorious for his discipline issues, with a high number of Red cards to his name. He will go out as one of the star players to ever come out of Portugal.
The 41-year-old Portuguese defender was one of the oldest player to make appearance in the European Championship Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
