International Career
Pepe never represented his native Brazil in any youth category. However, according to the player's father, in 2006 he was contacted by coach Dunga about a possible call-up, which he declined, stating that once he obtained Portuguese citizenship he would join its national team. He became naturalized in August 2007 and, on the 30th, was named in the Portuguese squad for the first time, in view of a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Poland; an injury while training for his club prevented the debut for his adopted country, which would materialize almost four months later, in Portugal's last came in the tournament against Finland on 21 November (0–0 home draw).
In the tournament's final stages, Pepe played in all of the national side's matches, scoring once in a 2–0 win against Turkey on 7 June 2008. Portugal eventually exited in the quarterfinals.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, Pepe was often used as a defensive midfielder by national coach Carlos Queiroz. After his serious knee injury while playing for Real Madrid, he was eventually selected for the squad that participated in the finals in South Africa, appearing against Brazil in the group stage (0–0) and eventual champions Spain in the round-of-16 (0–1 loss).
Again a starter in Euro 2012 under manager Paulo Bento, Pepe opened the score in the second group game against Denmark, heading home after a João Moutinho corner kick in an eventual 3–2 win. He was later chosen by UEFA as Man of the match.
Read more about this topic: Pepe (footballer Born 1983)
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