Real Madrid's Pepe: I Am Already Beginning My Recovery

Real Madrid central defender Pepe was "completely destroyed" after suffering a season-ending knee injury at Valencia last month, but the Portuguese international has changed his tune after the Christmas break, jovially announcing that he is "already beginning the process of recovery", as reported by AS.

Pepe returned to Madrid yesterday from Portugal after undergoing an operation on December 17 to repair his torn ACL. He began remedial work with the Real Madrid medical and training staff and even took to the pitch to exchange pleasantries with his team-mates before training.

"I feel very well. I'm happy because I am recovering nicely after surgery. I am excited to begin the recovery process", said the towering Portuguese.

"After the operation, I began working. The next day I was already on my way to trying to gain some mobility in my knee. Now, little by little, I am gaining some strength. I hope that in one or two weeks I will be able to put down the crutches. The most important thing is that everything has gone well and this makes me very happy".

Pepe is now focusing on "work, work, work" in his bid to return to action as soon as possible. He could potentially make it back to action by the time of the Champions League final, should Madrid progress that far, but otherwise his goal is the World Cup in South Africa.