Cristiano Ronaldo’s former club and international team-mate Pepe has reflected on the time his compatriot spent the night with him in hospital without the former defender even noticing.
The pair spent eight years together at Real Madrid while also sharing a pitch for the Portuguese national team. Both were part of the team which won Euro 2016, starting together in the final before Ronaldo was forced off injured in the first half.
Four years earlier, though, it had been Pepe who was withdrawn early. A collision with Madrid keeper Iker Casillas left the defender with a head injury, and he was taken to hospital after the incident on the opening weekend of the Spanish season.
Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes at the Bernabeu, with the game ending all-square after Jonas cancelled out an early opener from Gonzalo Higuain. However, it’s what happened after the game that stuck with Pepe ever since.
“Look, I have a moment with Cris that will never leave my memory,” the defender told Radio Renascenca in his native Portugal. “Even though I lost my memory, I missed a part of that game.
“I remember that when I woke up the next day in the hospital, I was still wearing my Real Madrid kit tied to the bed,” he added. “Afterwards, I went to ask my family what had happened, to my wife, who was five days away from having my oldest daughter, Angeli, and on the news I saw that Cris had been there in the hospital!
“And I didn’t even notice him! And then, of course, my mother was there, also worried because she had come to see the birth of my daughter, my mother and my father. Cris was there practically the whole night with me, with my family. Not with me, with my family, because I was in the room. But he was there, giving me strength and some of the comments he made just show the affection we have for each other.”
Both men continued playing at a high level for a number of years after leaving Real Madrid. Pepe enjoyed a further seven years in Europe after his 2017 exit, retiring after Euro 2024, while Ronaldo spent three years with Juventus and close to 18 months with Manchester United before joining current club Al-Nassr midway through the 2022-23 season.
Now 40 years of age, Ronaldo has also remained part of the international picture for Portugal. While he’s not ready to retire just yet, he indicated a desire to stay in football as a club owner once he does eventually decide to hang up his boots.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to be director of a club. If I can be a club owner, why would I be a manager, sporting director or CEO?,” Ronaldo told Portuguese television station Canal 11. “That is a dream of mine and I am sure I’ll be a club owner. And I’ll tell you more. I hope to have not just one club, but several clubs.”
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