Kepler Laveran de Lima Ferreira ComM (born 26 February 1983), known as Pepe (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈpɛpi]), is a Brazilian-Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and defensive-midfielder for, and captains Primeira Liga club Porto and the Portugal national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of his generation.[3][4][5]
During his professional career, Pepe played for Marítimo, Porto, Real Madrid, and Beşiktaş, with individual and team success with the middle two clubs. He won three La Liga titles, three UEFA Champions League titles, two Copa del Rey titles and played 334 games for Real Madrid.[6] He has also won four Primeira Liga titles and three Taça de Portugal titles with Porto.
Born and raised in Brazil, Pepe opted to play for the Portugal national team, and has earned 134 caps since his debut in 2007. He played at four FIFA World Cups and as many UEFA European Championships, and was part of the team that won Euro 2016, also reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2012. Pepe was man of the match in the Euro 2016 final.
Club career
Marítimo
Born in Maceió, Alagoas, Pepe was named Kepler Laveran by his father in honour to scientists Johannes Kepler and Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran.[7] He started playing football with local Corinthians Alagoano. At age 18, alongside teammate Ezequias, he moved to Portugal to sign with Marítimo in Madeira, spending the vast majority of his first season with the B-team.
After being promoted to the main squad for the 2002–03 season, under Russian manager Anatoliy Byshovets, Pepe rarely missed a match, playing in several positions including defensive midfielder.[citation needed]
During the 2002–03 pre-season, Pepe was given permission to train with Sporting CP for two weeks, after which a deal could be negotiated for his transfer. However, neither club could agree on financial terms and the negotiations broke down, with the player returning[8] and going on to help Marítimo finish sixth in the following campaign and qualify to the UEFA Cup, having contributed with 1 goal in 30 matches.
Porto
In May 2004, shortly before the club sealed a treble of the league, cup and UEFA Champions League, Pepe signed for Porto.[9]
In his first season, with Spanish coach Víctor Fernández at the helm, Pepe was mostly used as a backup player, playing under veterans Pedro Emanuel, Jorge Costa and utility defender Ricardo Costa. However, in the following year, under the guidance of Co Adriaanse, he had a breakthrough season, establishing himself as one of the best defenders in the domestic competition: the Dutchman often chose a 3–4–3 offensive system, with the player often pitched as the only natural stopper.[citation needed] Porto eventually won back-to-back leagues and the Taça de Portugal.
Real Madrid
2007–11 seasons
On 10 July 2007, Real Madrid signed Pepe to a five-year contract, paying Porto a €30 million transfer fee.[10] On 15 March 2008, Pepe scored the only (own) goal in a 0–1 away loss against Deportivo La Coruña.[11] Eight months later, he was involved in a fight during training with teammate Javier Balboa[12] – the defender was nonetheless called up for Real's next match, whereas the winger was not. As Los Blancos were eventually crowned champions of La Liga, he delivered a Man of the match performance in a 1–0 win at the Camp Nou against Barcelona.[13]
Pepe was constantly hampered by injuries throughout the 2008–09 campaign. On 21 April 2009, he was also involved in an incident with Getafe's Javier Casquero: with the score at 2–2 and only a few minutes to play, he brought down the midfielder in the penalty area, being subsequently sent off. He then kicked Casquero twice, once on his shin and once on his lower back. When being pulled away from Casquero, he also pushed his head into the turf and stamped on him several times. In the ensuing mêlée, he also struck another opposing player, Juan Ángel Albín, in the face and eventually received a ten-match ban, which effectively ended his season.[14]
In the 2009–10 season, Pepe returned to claim his place back in the starting line-ups. On 4 October 2009, he scored his first goal in the league, against Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, heading home from a Guti free-kick in a 1–2 loss. However, on 12 December, during a match at Mestalla against Valencia (3–2 win), he landed awkwardly following an aerial challenge and was stretchered off the pitch in the dying minutes of the first half. Scans later showed that he ruptured his right knee's anterior cruciate ligament.[15] He went on to miss the rest of the season, jeopardising his 2010 FIFA World Cup chances.
For 2010–11, Pepe was joined at Real Madrid by countrymen Ricardo Carvalho and manager José Mourinho, pairing up with Carvalho to form one of the most efficient defensive pairings in La Liga. On 2 October 2010, Diario AS published an article where the player was reportedly open to leave the club on a Bosman transfer.[16] According to the newspaper, "[W]hen he signed for Real Madrid in 2007, he sacrificed a part of his salary to pay for his huge transfer fee – this made him one of the lowest earners at the club, making €1.8 million a year."[17] Again, he missed several matches due to injury[18] and, after exhausting negotiations,[19] finally signed a new contract, renewing his link to the club until 2015.[20]
Pepe spent the final stretch of the season appearing as a defensive midfielder as Real Madrid faced Barcelona four times in less than one month. On 27 April 2011, in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg, he was sent off for a controversial challenge on Barcelona defender Dani Alves in an eventual 0–2 home loss.[21] However, Alves also came into strong criticism, with Real Madrid claiming the Brazilian fullback had exaggerated the incident. Additionally, sportspersons including Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen and Rory McIlroy criticised Alves' actions.[22] The next day, UEFA opened disciplinary cases against both clubs for a number of incidents during the match.[23] The verdict was announced eight days later: the red card stood and Pepe therefore received a one-match ban from European competition, which he served by not playing in the 1–1 draw in the second leg at Camp Nou.[24]