Euro 2024, Pepe tough: “We didn’t deserve to suffer like this.”

The joy of victory is matched by the knowledge that we have made more effort than expected.

Portugal in celebration for the victory snatched from the Czech Republic, the Lusitanians’ first opponent at Euro 2024. The 2-1 success è però accrued in full recovery, thanks to the goal in extremis of the very young Francisco Conceicao. This is precisely why one of the team’s veterans, defender Pepe, admits that the difficulties on the pitch were many.

"For us è it was a difficult night – admitted Pepe in an interview granted to 'Sky Sport' after the match – We worked so hard, and we did not deserve to suffer so much. Especially since, for long stretches, we dominated the game against the Czech Republic. Facing a team soì good at defending è a feat".

Moreover, it was precisely the Czech Republic that had taken the lead, but according to Pepe this did not create agitation for Portugal. "At that stage of the game we kept calm. We were calm, we relied on our qualities and in the end we won. They were good, but we tried different solutions. In the end è it went well".

Speaking of Pepe, moreover, the 1983-year-old defender è officially became the oldest footballer to have ever played a match at a European Championship. On the night of Portugal-Czech Republic he was in fact 41 years, 3 months and 23 days old: beating Gabor Kiraly, a goalkeeper who defended Hungary's posts at 40 years and 86 days. Third, in this particular ranking, è Cristiano Ronaldo himself, who on the same night è became the first footballer in history to play at least one game in six different editions of the European Championship.