Martinez praises Pepe’s ‘love of the game’ as Portugal veteran shines at Euro 2024

Veteran Portugal player Pepe is the oldest player to ever appear in a European Championship, but that didn’t stop him from being one of the best players in Saturday’s victory over Turkey, with coach Roberto Martinez describing the 41-year-old as a “wonderful example”.

The Porto centre-back, who turned 41 in February, set the record as the competition’s oldest player when he played in his country’s 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in the opening match of Euro 2024.

He thus surpassed the record of Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, who was 40 years and 86 days old when he played against Belgium in the round of 16 of the 2016 European Championship. Pepe was also in the team for Saturday’s 3-0 win against Turkey.

He was also outstanding when he led the defence alongside Ruben Dias in Dortmund, helping Martinez’s team to a victory that secured their place in the knockout stages.

“If a neutral spectator watched the game and saw Pepe play, he would never believe that he is 41 years old,” said Martinez.

“He is a role model, a professional, with the way he reads the game, with the way he competes.”

“He takes advantage of the 24 hours to be a professional footballer,” added Martinez when asked how Pepe manages to continue playing at such a high level when most players his age have long since ended their careers.

“We all know players who maybe only prepare for two hours a day. The rest of the time they live a normal life and expect to end their career one day.”

“Pepe doesn’t do that. He needs 24 hours to recover. If he doesn’t recover, he makes sure he has the right sleep pattern.”

“It all depends on the details and the focus is to play one more year. Then it’s just about the love of the game and knowing the opponent and the tactical aspects,” added Martinez.

Pepe was born in Brazil but played for Portugal after moving there as a young player and becoming a naturalised citizen.

– “You can’t buy genetics” –

He made his debut for the national team in 2007 at the age of 24, playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, who is still his teammate at the age of 39.

In fact, Ronaldo is the second oldest field player to have taken part in the European Championship, just behind Pepe.

Pepe is now taking part in his fifth European Championship, one less than Ronaldo. Both were key players in the team that won the Euro 2016 in France.

“He is a wonderful example, but of course the body has to follow. He has a genetic makeup that I don’t think you can buy anywhere,” Martinez joked about Pepe, who made 34 appearances for Porto in the just-completed season, including seven in the Champions League.

“I think he’s an example to all young players of how a player can extend his career by what he does 24 hours a day.”

Portugal is one of the favorites to win another European Championship in Germany. In addition to the experience of Pepe and Ronaldo – former teammates at Real Madrid – Martinez also has an enormous depth of players and promising young talents.

Thanks to Saturday’s victory, they easily reached the round of 16, although they still have a group match against Georgia to come in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday.

The coach may be tempted to give Pepe a rest as he considers several changes ahead of the Round of 16 match in Frankfurt on July 1.

“We are top of the group and can make changes in the next game, which is very important for me because there are many players in the dressing room who deserve to play,” said Martinez, who has two highly talented young defenders in the starting blocks with Goncalo Inacio (22) and Antonio Silva (20).

“They showed that in the training camp before the tournament in Portugal. We have to give them the opportunity to see how competitive they are.”

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