Pepe was sent off in the first half of Portugal's inaugural World Cup match against Germany in 2014 for headbutting Thomas Muller late in the first half of an 0-4 loss. The dismissal was his first and only yellow card during the tournament.
Portugal went on to lose the game 4-0. However, Pepe did not miss a single match as Portugal reached the final where they lost to Brazil.
After the tournament, it was reported that Portuguese law prohibits players from appearing in more than two matches in one week so Pepe would have been out for at least one game had he continued playing. However, after consulting with their public defender team, Pepe and his agent decided to withdraw him from further games until Portgual's legal issues were resolved.
Pepe returned from his suspension in 2015 when he appeared in three games before leaving the squad again due to injury. He returned for Portugal's last two matches of the year - a 2016 European Championship qualifier against Scotland and a 2017 international fixture against Spain. Pepe came on as a substitute in both games.
He ended the year by winning the UEFA Champions League Award with four other players.
Pepe has been criticized for some ugly challenges but all of those incidents took place before he received a red card.
Gerardo Bedoya holds the record for the most red cards in football history. During his football career, he has received 43 red cards. And, most likely, Pepe will not achieve that aim because he is now reprimanded after receiving a red card for headbutting Thomas Mueller in a Fifa World Cup 2014 group play.
However, this does not stop Gerardo from being the most sent off player in football history. He has earned this title due to his many cautions during his playing days. In fact, over the course of his career, he has accumulated more than 300 appearances with Costa Rica, making him one of the most experienced players in the world.
He started out at Alajuela's Saprissa Club and became famous when he moved to American San Jose Earthquakes in 1996. After two seasons there, he returned to his first club Alajuela and ended his career with them in 1998. Since then, he has been working as a coach with the national team and at several other clubs including Chelsea, Espanyol, and Wigan Athletic.
Besides Bedoya, another famous player who has received a lot of cards is Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese footballer was banned for four matches after getting two yellow cards and two red cards in a single game for Madrid CF vs Os Cantigas FC (2001).
Third on our list is Alessandro Del Piero.
That brings the total to six red cards. Pepe is an aggressive defender, which is why he is so difficult to play against! In comparison, his Real Madrid colleague, Sergio Ramos, has received 22 red cards in his 15-year career! That's more than two per season on average.
Pepe Reina has a total of six red cards to his name during his professional football career. He earned his first red card in August 2003 while playing for Liverpool against Middlesbrough at Anfield. It was also his only appearance that season as Liverpool were crowned champions with 11 games to go in the English Premier League.
In 2004, Reina was sent off again while playing for Liverpool against Manchester United at Old Trafford. This time it was a penalty kick that got him red-carded and Samuel Kuffour scored the spot-kick for Man United. However, despite being banned for four matches, Reina continued to play until after the end of the season when Liverpool won the league title without him.
In 2005, Reina played every match as Liverpool won their fifth championship in six years. He was also named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year. That same year, Reina made his debut for Spain national team in a friendly match against South Africa. He kept three clean sheets in this match as Spain won 1-0.
Pepe was born and reared in Brazil and chose to represent Portugal in three FIFA World Cups and three UEFA European Championships. He was a member of the UEFA Euro 2016 winning squad, as well as reaching the Euro 2012 semi-finals. Overall, he made 116 appearances for his country, scoring 16 goals.
He won the UEFA Champions League with Porto in 2002 and also has two Portuguese Cup medals to his name. In addition, Pepe has four FIFA Club World Cups to his credit - three with Porto and one with Germany. The Brazilian defender announced his retirement from international football following Portugal's elimination at the play-offs stage of UEFA Euro 2020 on Thursday night.
Pepe Martínez de Huelva was born on 10 October 1979 in Curitiba, Parana State, Brazil. His parents were both Spanish: his father came from Gijón and his mother from Malaga. When he was five years old, they moved to Vila Nova de Gaia in Portugal where he grew up. Here he joined local club Sporting CP and became one of their most important players during his time there. In 2000, when Sporting reached the UEFA Champions League final, 20-year-old Pepe helped them win the trophy by scoring the only goal of the game against Juventus.
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