In the turbulent year 2013 at Real Madrid, Pepe was one of the players who raised his voice the most to defend Iker Casillas in his confrontation with Mourinho. A very notorious episode was when the defender stood up to the coach after he said that he regretted not having signed Diego López earlier, “you have to have a little respect for Iker. The statements of the míster have not been the most adequate“, declared Pepe after a match against Valladolid.
In a recent interview, the Porto player was asked about that moment and those words, explaining that he has no problem with Mourinho and who spoke to him after that. “I want to clarify that at that time I did not go against my coach. When I spoke to the media, I asked a teammate for respect. It was very clear to me. Iker has a brutal history at Real Madrid, He also won the World Cup and the Eurocup, was captain of Madrid and the National Team, Why was he so criticized? I wanted to defend my partner“, has declared Pepe in an interview with NOVO.
The center-back has made it clear that Iker Casillas did not deserve the treatment he received during that season, although he acknowledges that perhaps his words did not arrive at the right time seeing the climate in Real Madrid. “Maybe I spoke at the wrong time because they were both in shock. I only asked Iker for respect. I still think that what happened at Real Madrid was unfair, for everything he gave to football, to be treated like this… “.
In the interview Pepe has been asked by his friend and partner both in Madrid and in the National Team, Cristiano Ronaldo. The player has stated that he would love for him to return to Portugal, but that “to be honest, knowing him as I know him I don't know if I could put up with a lot of people talking the way they talk about football in Portugal“In addition, he also spoke about the rumors about his departure from Juventus stating that what he wants is to see him happy.”I think he is happy in Turin. He is the top scorer in the Italian league, the people who criticize him do not know the effort involved in scoring more than 30 goals each year. What he does is brutal. I hope he stays there for another year, bringing joy to sports lovers and representing Portugal as well as he does. “
Finally, he has also talked about the future of Sergio Conceiçao which ends the contract after taking his team to the quarterfinals of the Champions League and fighting for the leadership of the Portuguese league. “He knows that I would like him to stay, but he has his goals and they must be respected. In the last four years he has set the bar very high. We can only thank the coach because his demand made us raise the level. I would have liked to meet him a little younger, 28 or 29 years old, in my prime. “