FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - International Friendly - Portugal v Croatia - Centro Desportivo Nacional do Jamor, Oeiras, Portugal - June 8, 2024 Portugal's Pepe and teammates during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo
LEIPZIG, Germany (Reuters) - Portugal centre back Pepe is set to become the oldest player in European Championship history aged 41 years and 113 days after he was named in the side for their Euro 2024 Group F opener against Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Pepe will beat the previous record held by former Hungary goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, who was 40 years and 86 days old when he played in their Euro 2016 last-16 defeat by Belgium.
Pepe will start in a back three alongside Diogo Dalot and Ruben Dias in a strong Portugal side spearheaded by 39-year-old captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Czechs are skippered by midfielder Tomas Soucek, with Euro 2020 joint-top scorer Patrik Schick up front.
Teams:
Portugal: Diogo Costa, Diogo Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, Cristiano Ronaldo (c), Rafael Leao
Czech Republic: Jindrich Stanek, Tomas Holes, Robin Hranac, Ladislav Krejci, Vladimir Coufal, Pavel Sulc, Tomas Soucek (c), Lukas Provod, David Doudera, Jan Kuchta, Patrik Schick
(Reporting by Toby Davis)
