The link between Cristiano Ronaldo e Pepe goes beyond football. They were teammates and national teammates. The relationship began in Sporting’s youth categories and then strengthened when they met again at Sporting. Real Madrid em 2009.
The Portuguese duo played together for almost a decade at the Santiago Bernabéu, winning several titles and building an unbreakable brotherhood.
Pepe formed a famous duo with Sergio Ramos in Real Madrid’s defense, but injuries took their toll and in 2017 the Portuguese left the club as a free agent, signing with Besiktasfrom Türkiye.
At the time, Real Madrid did not offer a new deal for Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo was desperate to keep his friend at the club.
Pepe revealed in an interview with “Renascença”, that Cristiano Ronaldo even offered a portion of his own salary for the defender to remain at Real Madrid.
— I talked to him a lot and he told me to stay at Real Madrid. But I think my time at the club had come, because it was 10 very demanding years, where I gave up a lot of time. I tried to explain to him that I couldn’t be there anymore because of the difficulties I was having at the time and he said: “If it’s about the money, mate, I’ll give my money to you!” And I said no: “Thank God it’s not because of that, it’s for other reasons”. I also wanted to feel football again, and that’s it, I decided to go to Turkey — revealed Pepe.
Another episode, which took place in 2012, also shows Cristiano Ronaldo’s loyalty to Pepe. During a match against Valenciathe defender suffered a serious head injury after colliding with Iker Casillas. The defender had to be taken to the hospital.
Cristiano Ronaldo played the entire match and then spent the night in the hospital with Pepe’s family.
— Even though I lost my memory, I missed part of that game. I remember that when I woke up the next day in the hospital, I still had my Real Madrid kit tied to the bed; Afterwards, I went to ask my family what had happened, my wife, who was five days away from having my eldest daughter, Angeli — said the former defender.
“On the news I saw that Cris had been there at the hospital! And I didn’t even notice! Cris was there practically the whole night with me, with my family. He was there, giving me strength”, he added.
Titles won by Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe together
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For Real Madrid
- Spanish Championship: 2011/12 and 2016/17
- Spanish Super Cup: 2012
- Copa del Rey: 2010/11 and 2013/14
- Champions League: 2013/14, 2015/16 e 2016/17
- UEFA Super Cup: 2014 and 2016
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2014 and 2016
For the Portuguese national team
- Euro Cup: 2016
- UEFA Nations League: 2018/19