At the age of 41, Pepe ends his career – with several records and an extra-long video
Few professional footballers last as long as Pepe at the highest level. And so on Thursday, after a career of excessive length, the 41-year-old also put an end to a career of excessive length. In a video on YouTube lasting over 33 minutes, the central defender announced the end of his professional career of over 20 years. The clip is entitled “Obigrado”, Portuguese for thank you, and shows the defender in a dark room with the trophies he won, watching highlights from his career on a screen – and shedding a few tears at the end.
Born in Brazil, he moved from CS Maritimo to the then Champions League winners FC Porto in 2004 and won the World Cup in his first season. This was followed by an unprecedented run of titles: with the Portuguese club, which he moved to again in the late fall of his career, he won the championship a total of four times and the cup five times. Following his move to Real Madrid in 2007, he went on to win three league titles, two cups and, above all, three Champions League titles
Multiple age records
During this time, he also earned a reputation as an uncompromising, rough-and-tumble monster of mentality in the defensive unit, who often came under fire for his toughness and unsportsmanlike conduct. In 2009, for example, he was banned for ten league games for punching an opponent in the face and insulting the referees after the subsequent red card
It was only after ten years that Pepe finally left the Whites and moved to Besiktas Istanbul for a year and a half. He started playing for Porto again in 2019 and was a regular and captain of the team until the end. However, his contract expired at the end of the season. Most recently, a move to Spanish first division club Celta Vigo was on the cards, but this has now come to nothing.
“A career and a legacy that will always be an example for every Portista,” FC Porto wrote on its channels. “There are only two possible words: congratulations and thank you.” Pepe also recently set records for Porto as the oldest outfield player and oldest goalscorer in Champions League history.
In the kit of the Portuguese national team, for which he started playing after becoming a citizen in 2007 and with which he became European champion in 2016, Pepe also became the oldest player to have played in a European Championship final to date at the last European Championship. Alongside his long-time Real colleague Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe lost to France on penalties in the quarter-finals in his 141st – and now final – international match. Tears flowed afterwards – as can now be seen in the farewell video
