Portuguese international Pepe announced on Thursday, August 8, his decision to end his professional career at the age of 41. The announcement was made officially in a video posted on social media.
“I want to thank everyone,” Pepe said in the video he posted on social media, referring to the clubs he played for, the national team and his family. “Everyone gave me the support I needed to leave with a clear conscience,” added the centre-back, who is saying goodbye after participating in Euro 2024 and after his contract with Porto ends.
Born in Brazil, Kepler Laveran Lima Ferreira, known as Pepe, arrived in Portugal at the age of 18 and began his professional career at Marítimo de Madeira.
Pepe has had a prolific career, marked by numerous titles. After a first spell at FC Porto (2004-07), where he won two La Liga titles (2005-06, 2006-07) and a Portuguese Cup (2005-06), he spent ten years at Real Madrid. With Los Blancos, he added to his record three Champions League titles (2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17), three La Liga titles (2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17), two Copa del Reys (2010-11, 2013-14), two Spanish Super Cups (2008, 2012) and two Club World Cups (2014, 2016).
After a season and a half at Besiktas, Turkey, where he won the Turkish Super Lig in 2017, Pepe returned to Porto in January 2019, adding two more Portuguese league titles (2019-20, 2021-22) and two Portuguese Cups (2019-20, 2021-22) to his impressive record.
Internationally, he has been a mainstay of the Portugal national team, winning the 2016 European Championship and the 2018–19 Nations League.
