2022 FIFA World Cup
‘I Couldn’t Sleep Over World Cup Injury Worry’ – Portugal Star Reveals

The 39-year-old Portugal defender, Pepe has revealed how he lost sleep before the World Cup because he was worried he would miss the tournament through injury.
Pepe became the third-oldestoutfield player to feature at a World Cup on Monday, starting for thefirst time in almost two monthsin the2-0 winover Uruguay.
He suffered a knee sprain in early October and made his return as a substitutefor his club Porto in their final match before the World Cup on November 12.
READ ALSO: Ghana Fans Arrested In Qatar For Serious Offence, Charged To Court Ahead of Uruguay Clash
“When I had the injury, Icouldn’t sleepto be honest,” Pepe told a press conference, a day before his team play South Korea in their final Group H match.
“Icouldn’t sleepbecause Iwanted to recover as soon as possibleand play in another World Cup, to contribute to my national team, to achieve victory. “So thejourney seemed very long, but it is now over. “Ihave to lookahead, to look forward with objective of doingthe best I canto secure a win.”Portugal have already qualifiedfor the last 16 but canguarantee top spot if they win or drawagainst South Korea on Friday.
Danilo Pereirastarted at centre-back alongsideRuben Diasin the first game butfractured three ribs in training, allowing Pepe to step in and produce astrong displayto shut out Uruguay. He said even after130 appearances he was still enjoyingplaying for his country. “Ican’t say if it’s the lastWorld Cup that I will play,” said Pepe. “I amhere to enjoy the tournament. It’s aprivilegeto do what I love, toplay football.”
READ ALSO: Szczesny Reveals How Much He Lost Betting With Messi, Admits He’ll ‘Probably Get Banned’
Portugal haveone of the stronger squadsat the tournament, featuringCristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva. However, Pepe believes thattalent alone will not be enoughto earn Portugal their first World Cup trophy. “We haveseveral ingredients, and if we don’t put all the ingredients together, as our coach has said,(it doesn’t work).
“If we prepare a salad, youcan’t have tomato on one side and onion on the otherside, youhave to put them all together. “We have ahigh-qualitynational team, but unless we work very hard, respect our opponents and do what our coach says,we won’t benefitso much from this quality.”