After more than 20 years in the game, Portugal international Pepe announced on Thursday that he was calling it quits on his playing career via Instagram. The 41-year-old defender won three Champions League titles with Real Madrid and Euro 2016 with Portugal.
Born in Brazil, Pepe made his professional debut for Portuguese club Marítimo in April 2002. He then joined Porto in 2004 and won two league titles there before being recruited by Real Madrid in 2007. During ten seasons in the Spanish capital, the defender established himself as one of the best players in the world.
He initially adopted a rough, even very physical style, with some mistakes on the pitch (a series of kicks to a Getafe player, for example, led to a ten-match ban in 2011). Pepe then showed great reliability with Real Madrid, notably participating in the three Champions League titles (2014, 2016, 2017) by forming the central joint of the Madridistas with Sergio Ramos, although he is often in competition with Raphaël Varane. The Portuguese has also won three Spanish league titles (2008, 2012, 2017).
Pepe left Real Madrid in 2017 and played a season at Besiktas, before returning to Porto in January 2019 and playing another 201 games for the Dragons, with two new league titles (2020, 2022).
Brazilian by birth, Pepe acquired Portuguese citizenship in 2007 and immediately joined the national team. He has since made 141 appearances (8 goals) and has appeared in all competitions of his choice. The defender was instrumental in winning the 2016 European Championship, the only major title in Portugal's history.
