A legend bows out! Real Madrid and Portugal star Pepe confirms his retirement at the age of 41 with emotional 30-minute video

After 23 years as a professional footballer, Pepe has announced his retirement from the sport. The centre-back racked up 742 appearances during his club career and was capped 141 times by Portugal, too. Now, he will prepare for life after football.

Pepe posted a snippet of a lengthy YouTube video on his Instagram page and captioned it: "Obrigado (Thank you)."

On his career, he added: "I want to thank God for giving me the wisdom to be able to continue my journey. I cannot fail to thank all the presidents who believed in me and believed in me. All the employees of all the clubs I have been to, they are the soul and essence of the national team. All my teammates and coaches, who helped me grow and compete every day. All the fans, who are the soul of football. To Jorge Mendes, to Gestifute, to my mother, who was essential in my journey by letting me fly towards my dream, which was to be a professional footballer. To all my friends and family, especially my wife, who was my home in my absence. My children for believing in me, for being a fundamental support in my life, for supporting me when I left home to play. They were the support I needed to be able to go with a clear conscience. I would like to thank everyone, give them my thanks and a hug of gratitude. Thank you all very much."

Pepe will go down as one of the greatest defenders of his generation. The longevity of his career is truly remarkable and over the decades he has won the European Championship, Champions League, La Liga, Primeira Liga and more. Pepe made a name for himself at Porto initially and he finished his career at the Portuguese club, too.

Pepe, whose last game in football was a Euro 2024 quarter-final defeat to France last month, will now prepare for what comes next. It remains to be seen if he will return to football in a coaching capacity, as a pundit, or something else.