Pepe is now well over forty years old, but still competes at the highest level. On Wednesday, the FC Porto defender made Champions League history.
Pepe has participated for ninety minutes in Porto's 4-1 victory over Antwerp FC, becoming the oldest outfield player ever in the Champions League. On Wednesday, Pepe was 40 years, 7 months, and 29 days old, surpassing Alessandro Costacurta. The Italian was 40 years, 6 months, and 28 days old when he played for AC Milan against AEK Athens in November 2006.
Pepe could have broken Costacurta's record earlier this month but missed the away game against Barcelona due to an injury. Now fit again, he has made history. However, he is not the oldest player in the Champions League; there are still five goalkeepers above him. Marco Ballotta of Lazio has held the record since 2007; he was 43 years and 252 days old when he played against Real Madrid.
Against Antwerp, Pepe played his 115th Champions League match. 'I am proud of this record because it is difficult to break,' said the centre-back after the victory in Belgium. 'I have always worked hard for the clubs I served, to be able to play as many games as possible and to win trophies.'
Evanilson
The star for Porto in the victory over Antwerp was Evanilson, who scored three times. Interestingly, he had started on the bench. Evanilson became the seventh substitute in Champions League history to score a hat-trick.
