The first time that

Pepe

and

Cristiano Ronaldo

met in a match was on November 15, 2002. Sporting de Portugal, in which the striker (17 years old) was starting to play, won 2-0 against Marítimo in the that the central (19 years old) was already a fundamental piece.

The second time, five months later, the victory also went to the Lisbon team, this time 0-3 and with Ronaldo starting from the bench.

That same summer, Sporting had Pepe tested for a few days.

The central convinced them, but not the price that the Marítimo was asking for.

More than 18 years of good friendship had passed since those first clashes between two of the best players in Portugal of this century when the Champions League draw paired Juventus and Porto for the round of 16.

Nearly two decades without a new face-to-face between the two, whose paths coincided at Real Madrid for eight seasons, between 2009 and 2017. Now, they were a 38-year-old Pepe rushing his career at Porto and a 36-year-old Cristiano trying to win one last Champions League with Juve.

Now, nearly two decades later and against all odds, Pepe won.

After playing a correct game in O Dragao, the central defender astonished Europe with his display at Juventus Stadium, drying Cristiano and also

Morata

, the two starting forwards of

Pirlo's team

.

"If I were a coach, I would prepare a video with Pepe's exhibition and show it to my centers so that they would notice his positioning, his dedication, his attention and his ability to perceive danger. The young centers now know how to get away with the ball, but not so much how to defend the area. Pepe made an almost perfect display ", praised

Rio Ferdinand

, who knows something about the job of central defense.

The numbers endorse the feeling that it was imperial.

He only made almost twice as many punts (18) as all Juventus players combined (10).

Next on the list was his partner in the center of the rear,

Chancel Mbemba

, who stayed at eight.

Despite such a high number of punts, he only fumbled the ball six times and completed 85% of the passes he attempted.

Although perhaps the most surprising thing is that he only needed to make two innings in 120 minutes and only committed one foul, far from the fame of 'lumberjack' that he carried for so many years.

"It was very important not only my exhibition, but also the collective work, that was the fundamental thing to guarantee us a classification that we deserved," he said after a match in which Porto managed to pass in extra time after playing for an hour with one less footballer.

During the extra time, Pepe, who was doubtful until the last moment due to muscular discomfort, seemed to have broken and even made gestures to

Sérgio Conceiçao

to prepare his replacement, but ended up holding out until the end to command the Porto resistance.

That ended with a Chilean clearance of his when they had already exceeded three additional minutes.

And all this, it should be remembered, with 38 years.

An age that will not prevent him from adding a new national team tournament to his record.

Absent in the November break due to a foot injury,

Fernando Santos

has him as a starter in the center of the defense together with Manchester City player

Rúben Dias ahead

of the European Championship that will be played this summer.

It would be his fourth participation in an international tournament for national teams, a figure that has so far only reached a score of footballers in all of history.

If he is able to maintain his level for a year and a half more, he could also play his fourth World Cup in Qatar with his 'host' team for the Brazilian-born central defender.

But before, off the hook in the Portuguese League, he dreams of the Champions League, a title he has already won three times with Real Madrid.

"Wearing this shirt is always a responsibility, without losing focus and being humble. Being among the eight best teams in Europe is very positive, but it will be difficult having to play every three days," he analyzed this Tuesday, still hot.

After a year of absence, Porto are returning to the quarter-finals and it is difficult to think that they can go further.

But who would have thought that he would eliminate Juventus with a huge 38-year-old Pepe?

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

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  • Cristiano Ronaldo

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