Pepe in eye of storm after treading on Messi

By Duncan Shaw Jan 20, 2012, 11:44 GMT

Madrid - Spanish giants Real Madrid have a massive problem on their hands: deciding what to do about controversial defender Pepe.

The Brazil-born defender, who plays for Portugal, made headlines Wednesday thanks to an ugly incident in Real's 2-1 defeat at home to Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Spanish cup.

With 20 minutes left, and the score at 1-1, Pepe - who had already picked up a yellow card - seemed to deliberately tread on the hand of Barca idol Lionel Messi, who was on the ground after being fouled by Real's Jose Callejon.

The incident was not seen by the referee so Pepe stayed on the field, but it lead to an angry scuffle between the players of both sides.

Since Wednesday, Pepe has been heavily criticized from all sides, with Barca stars Gerard Pique and Xavi, former Real coach Bernd Schuster and even England striker Wayne Rooney deploring his action.

On Thursday, Pepe claimed that the incident was accidental, saying that: 'It would never enter my head to deliberately hurt a fellow professional.'

However, the television pictures seem to contradict Pepe's version, which was called 'not very convincing' by Madrid sports daily AS on Friday.

Pepe, 28 (whose full name is Kepler Laveran Lima Ferreira) has a long history of controversy and even brutality.

He was an expensive signing from FC Porto in 2007 and quickly gained a reputation for losing his temper and committing appalling fouls.

In April 2009 he was banned for 10 games for stamping on the back of Getafe midfielder Javier Casquero, after pulling him down for a penalty.

In April 2011, Pepe was sent off for a brutal assault on Barcelona's Dani Alves, in the Champions league quarter-finals.

In that match, Real coach Jose Mourinho had fielded Pepe as a defensive midfielder, an experiment that he repeated - to little effect - in Wednesday's cup tie.

Neither Mourinho nor anyone at Real has tried to defend Pepe after the Messi incident.

The Catalan media have demanded a long ban for him, their Madrid counterparts have suggested that Real should sell him off in the January transfer window because he has so badly damaged the club's image.

Meanwhile, Real seem unsure what to do with him.

According to sports daily Marca on Friday, Real are considering giving him a two-week 'holiday' until the storm blows over. This would mean him missing the upcoming league games at home to Athletic Bilbao and Zaragoza, and the second leg of the cup tie away to Barcelona.

It is not clear whether Mourinho is in favour of this, and the club has made no official statement about the incident.

AS, for its part, claimed on Friday that Real will not, after all, take any action against Pepe. It also seems likely that the Spanish football federation will not take any action against him because the match referee did not report the incident.

Barcelona have decided not to ask the federation to suspend Pepe. However, an online poll published by Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo showed, on Friday, that 85 per cent of readers think Barca should have requested disciplinary action for the Real defender.

Meanwhile, Mourinho has come in for some harsh criticism himself after Wednesday's latest defeat against Barca.

Mourinho, the highest-paid coach in the world, has only managed to beat Barca once (in last season's cup final) in nine encounters since joined Real from Inter Milan in 2010.

Marca, which is normally very supportive of Mourinho, on Friday criticized his 'strange line-up' - with Pepe in midfield - and 'ultra-defensive play tactics.'

Radio station Cadena COPE, meanwhile, claimed that Mourinho has 'annoyed everyone with his cowardly approach' against Barcelona.

Despite Mourinho's team being five points ahead of Barca atop La Liga, Cadena SER predicted on Friday that 'there could be massive protests' at Sunday's game against Bilbao 'unless the team plays well and wins convincingly.'

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