Pepe, a former Real Madrid defender, left the Portuguese national team on Wednesday and will miss the Nations League matches against the Czech Republic and Spain due to physical problems.
“The central defender has been examined by the Health and Performance Unit of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and will leave the concentration of the national team for reasons of physical fitness,” the FPF announced in a statement.
Pepe, 39, did not play on Saturday at Estoril-Porto of the Primeira Liga and was absent from the first two training sessions held this week by the ‘quinas’ team at Oeiras Football City, outside Lisbon.
Third player to fall from the list
This is the third casualty of Fernando Santos’ call after winger Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund) and striker Rafa Silva (Benfica), who on Monday announced his retirement as an international.
Guerreiro was replaced in the squad by Mario Rusi (Naples) and Rafa Silva by Gonçalo Ramos, also from Benfica, but so far it has not been reported whether Santos will call up another player to replace Pepe.
Portugal face the Czech Republic in Prague this Saturday, September 24, and close the Nations League group stage against Spain in Braga next Tuesday, the 27th.
After four games, the Spanish team leads group B with 8 points, closely followed by Portugal, with 7.
Source: La Verdad
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