Doha: Veteran Portugal defender Pepe admitted on Thursday that he was losing sleep ahead of the World Cup as he worried he would be ruled out of the tournament due to injury.
The 39-year-old became the third-oldest player to make his World Cup debut in almost two months in a 2-0 win over Uruguay.
Pepe suffered a knee sprain in early October and made his return on 12 November as a substitute against his club Porto in their last match before the World Cup.
“To be honest, I couldn’t sleep when I had the injury,” Pepe told a news conference the day before his team’s final Group H match against South Korea.
“I couldn’t sleep because I wanted to get well soon and play another World Cup, contribute for my national team, win.
“So the journey seemed very long, but now it is over.
“I have to look forward with the aim of doing the best I can to get the win.”
Portugal has already qualified for the last 16 but can guarantee a top spot if it wins or draws against South Korea on Friday.
Danilo Pereira started in the first game alongside Ruben Dias at centre-back, but fractured three ribs in training, allowing Pepe to put in a strong performance to knock Uruguay out.
He said that even after playing 130 matches, he is enjoying playing for his country.
Pepe said, “I cannot say that this is the last World Cup that I will play.”
“I am here to enjoy the tournament. It is a privilege for me to be able to do what I love, playing football.
Portugal has one of the stronger squads in the tournament, featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva.
However, Pepe believes that talent alone will not be enough to get Portugal their first World Cup trophy.
“We have many ingredients, and if we don’t put all the ingredients together, as our coach said, (it doesn’t work).
“If we prepare a salad, you can’t put tomatoes on one side and onions on the other, you have to put them all together.
“We have a high-quality national team, but unless we work very hard, respect our opponents and do what our coaches say, we will not benefit much from this quality.”