Five Players Who Could Replace Pepe for the Portugal National Team

For the past half-decade, Pepe has been a mainstay of the Portuguese national team, having started in each of Portugal's major tournaments since the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship. Born in Maceió, Alagoas, Pepe moved from his native Brazil at the age of 18, joining Liga NOS side Marítimo in 2001. He would spend the next six years in Portugal, becoming a naturalized citizen in August 2007 and making his debut shortly after in a 0-0 draw to Poland.

Pepe has reached legendary status with the Seleção, having played a leading role in their Euro 2016 triumph in France, and against Juventus, he gave a stellar display to lead Porto through to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, proving that he still has plenty left in the tank. However, at 38 years of age, it's unlikely that he'll be playing with Portugal after next year's FIFA World Cup, while his long-time partner José Fonte turns 38 in December.

https://twitter.com/BTLvid/status/1371527104853069826?s=20

Indeed, Pepe was forced to withdraw from Portugal's World Cup qualifying matches against Azerbaijan, Serbia and Luxembourg after suffering a muscle injury in his right leg in Porto's 2-1 victory against Portimonense, with manager Fernando Santos electing to replace him with Sporting's 32-year-old defender Luís Neto, who has struggled for game-time under Rúben Amorim this season.