In camp Portugal at the Confederations Cup, there is a mole. That, at least, was the suggestion made by the Real Madrid president Florentino Perez when he spoke to Spanish radio on Monday evening. “My understanding is that among the players who are in the Portugal squad, someone has said something,” said Perez, wrestling with the issue of Madrid potentially losing their finest player.
That "something", according to Perez, is the idea that Cristiano Ronaldo, agitated at investigations into his tax affairs by the Spanish authorities, is considering leaving the club where he has just won his third Uefa Champions League title in four years. The same radio station Perez spoke to had earlier reported something similar, and identified Pepe, friend and colleague to Ronaldo for club and country for the past eight years, as the agitator.
Portugal’s campaign at the Confederations Cup, which continues today against hosts Russia, is living under the long shadow of the reported restlessness of Ronaldo. The player himself, linked variously with blockbuster moves to Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, even Bayern Munich and apparently falling out of love with Spain, is publicly silent, boycotting press conferences in spite of his role as captain of Portugal. Pepe, the next most senior player, is also mute, yet to respond to the reports he has been talking to Ronaldo about a fresh start, and in particular, the possibility they should quit Madrid in tandem, for PSG.
Pepe is certainly leaving Madrid, after a decade as a pillar of their defence, and the fact that his departure has turned a little stormy is in keeping with much of his time there. He has a year left on his contract and had hoped to stay but let slip last month he felt the attitude of the club towards him “had not been right”. He was marginal during the celebrations of the double triumph of Primera Liga title and European Cup, but that was partly because he cracked his ribs in April, on the day, poignantly, that he scored in a derby against Atletico Madrid, which turned out to be the last of his nearly 350 matches in all-white.
Finding himself portrayed as the villain, as he has been by those identifying him as Ronaldo’s counsellor about a possible departure, is nothing new. Pepe’s reputation as a footballer is mixed. The raw, rugged aggression of his game has often spilled over into something unappealing, most famously in the uncontrolled assault he made on a Getafe player, Javier Casquero, eight years ago, an act that earned him a ten-match ban.
There was also the dive, so overacted it hardly qualified as devious, in the 2016 Champions League final, and he was designated a regular role as Madrid's chief bouncer, to rough up Leo Messi, when Real played Barcelona. All this has tended to obscure the masterly, authoritative qualities Pepe has as a central defender, strong in the air, clever in his anticipation, and brave.
He was outstanding for Portugal during last summer’s victorious Euro 2016, and gained the respect of his adopted country after a struggle to win the hearts of many Portuguese. That he was born in Brazil, and took Portuguese citizenship as an adult – he played for Porto before joining Madrid – made some sceptical. His cause was hardly helped when one former Portugal manager, Carlos Queiroz, described Pepe as “like a bad extra in a Brazilian soap opera".
To Ronaldo, he has been as close a colleague as almost anybody over the years. “My amigo, Pepito,” Ronaldo calls him. That relationship makes the notion of Pepe, the disgruntled ex-Madridista, egging his friend on towards a future somewhere else a neat theory.
There is certainly interest in Pepe from PSG. But the player himself, at 34, could use a few performances at the Confederations Cup to confirm he has a few elite seasons left in him. At Madrid, he had slipped down the pecking order of central defenders, behind Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos.
There were signs of rustiness, after two months out of action, in Portugal’s 2-2 draw with Mexico on Sunday, a result that leaves Russia clear at the top of Group A. Pepe allowed Javier Hernandez to beat him to the ball and head in Mexico’s first equaliser. The European champions expect better policing in the penalty box from Ronaldo’s amigo with attitude.
sports@thenational.ae
