What was more surprising was the performance of the players than the oldest one to play in the tournament. He was physically and technically lagging behind players who were 20 years younger than him in major competitions. With his seasoned performance, he displayed even more mature performance.
Portuguese defender Pepe (41, Portugal), born in 1983, has written a new history for the UEFA European Championship (Euro).
Pepe started in the first Group F match of UEFA Euro 2024 at Leipzig Stadium in Germany on the 19th and played full time to help his team win 2-1.
Pepe, a 3-4-3 typical center back, played full-time and firmly defended the Portuguese defense. The Portuguese defense, which was centered on Pepe, reported its valuable first win, losing only one goal.
With the participation on this day, Pepe entered the Euro finals at the age of 41 years and 113 days, standing tall as the oldest player ever to compete in the Euro tournament. The previous record was 40 years and 86 days old, which was recorded by retired Hungarian national goalkeeper Kirai Gabor in 2019. The field player broke the oldest record held by a goalkeeper.
He was outstanding on the field. Pepe displayed stellar performance by recording 93 percent success rate of passes, two successful tackles (67 percent success rate), and 67 percent and 100 percent success rate of ground ball and aerial ball contests, respectively.
In particular, the ball ownership has been acquired 11 times, which is the highest among all players in the first group match of Euro 2024, according to the soccer statistics firm Opta. The statistics firm Foot Mob gave Pepe an 8.1 rating.
“Pepe became the oldest player to qualify for the Euro at the age of 41 years and 113 days, breaking Gabor’s record. In addition, he also set a record for five consecutive Euro finals tournaments, which only Cristiano Ronaldo and Luca Modric had achieved,” UEFA said on its official website.
Pepe, who made his professional debut in 2001, is preparing for his 24th professional season after playing Maritimu and Porto (Portugal), Real Madrid (Spain), and Besiktache (Turkiye).
Since 2007, he has played for Portugal in his 138th A match on the day.토토사이트 순위
Pepe has caused controversy several times in the past for his tough and radical style of play, but his winning spirit and thorough physical care deserve to be ranked as a legend.