Jose Mourinho believes that Pepe, was indeed, in the wrong following his dismissal in Portugal’s opening game at the World Cup.
With Portugal 2-0 down at the moment Pepe raised his head down towards play-acting Thomas Muller, there is no doubt that the defender piled even more pressure on the national team.
Mourinho, who says that Pepe ‘is not even a Portugese man’, believes that the centre-back needs to keep calm and composed when playing for his ‘adopted nation’.
‘I think obviously the second goal is his fault. He’s on a zone but he has to make contact with the opponents and he left Hummels and Sami [Khedira] completely on his own and nobody contacted him, no challenge and Hummels scored the second goal,’ Yahoo’s Global Football Ambassador said.
‘After that I think the frustration of the mistake comes up and after that loses possession with the pressure of Muller and after that we can say is not a real aggression.
‘Maybe he doesn’t deserve a direct red card but because, in spite of not being a clear aggression, there is a body language that many, many times pushes the referees to have these kind of decisions.
‘To leave a team playing with ten men for such a long time is obviously a big handicap for the team.
‘The fact that is not even a Portuguese man, I think that should put even more pressure on him to behave in a certain way, which he didn’t.’
By Ollie Brown