PORTUGAL’s veteran warrior Pepe played with a BROKEN ARM in the World Cup quarter-final loss to Morocco.
The 39-year-old took up the captain’s armband while Cristiano Ronaldo manned the substitutes bench for the knockout stages.
But World Cup dark horses Morocco sealed an historic 1-0 win to become the first African country to reach the final four.
Adding insult to injury, Pepe played the game with a BROKEN ARM, the Portuguese FA has confirmed.
Pepe visited a Doha hospital which found a fracture to his left arm.
However, his broken arm didn’t stop him from fuming at the game’s Argentine referees.
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The Portuguese indulged in conspiracies surrounding the officials after the game.
Porto centre-back Pepe fumed to SIC, as relayed by Record: “It’s unacceptable for an Argentine referee to referee our game.
“After what happened yesterday, with [Lionel] Messi talking, all of Argentina talking and the referee comes here to blow the whistle.
“I’m not saying that he comes here conditioned… But what did we play the second half?
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“The goalkeeper dropped to the ground. There were only eight minutes of stoppage time.
“We worked seriously and the referee gave eight minutes [of added time]? We didn’t play anything in the second half.
“The only team that played football was us. We are sad. We had the quality to win the World Cup and we didn’t manage to. I can bet that Argentina will be champion.
“A very big waste of time, the referee spoke twice with the goalkeeper to put the ball in play as quickly as possible. We always try to play our game, we were true to who we are, we worked hard.
“I’m proud of that. We fought until the last minute, but we didn’t manage to win. Very sad, feeling of sadness.
“90 minutes that Morocco always wanted to stop our game with little fouls. The referee didn’t give a warning, not paying attention and that was the game.
“We tried to play, put the ball on the ground, the balls they recovered were kicks forward and trying to win the second ball.
“They were then happy to score the goal. But I am proud of my team-mates. We did a lot to be able to win today.”
Just like Cristiano Ronaldo – who left the pitch in tears following the shock KO – this World Cup is expected to be Pepe’s last.
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Morocco face world champions France for a spot in the final on Wednesday.
Should the African country progress, they’ll face either 2018 finalists Croatia or Argentina.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
