Real Madrid and Portugal centre-half Pep has never been a stranger to controversy - or indeed an exaggerated fall from a challenge.
For such a rough-and-tumble sort of dude he does seem very willing to do a bit of freestyle diving when the opportunity presents itself but he might well have outdone himself in Moscow this afternoon.
His Portugal team moved to six points from two games after a narrow 1-0 win against a game Morocco side.
As he trotted back towards his own half after coming forward for a set piece, the 35-year-old received a pat on the back from his defensive colleague Mehdi Benatia of Morocco.
Showing all the agility of a gymnast, Pepe threw himself to the ground, writhing in agony.
Even the most sympathetic of VAR operators couldn’t have seen a foul there and his calls fell on deaf ears.
Have a look at his histrionics below as he cements his reputation as one of the most frustrating watches in the European game.
The Madrid man and his Portugues defensive partners were expected to breeze past their Group B opponents in the day’s first World Cup game but had a more difficult afternoon than seemed likely after they took an early lead.
Minutes had elapsed when Cristiano Ronaldo found himself unmarked at a corner and powered a header into the net, nabbing his fourth goal in two games.
But that would be their only score of the day and their opponents, who might just become the best World Cup side to score no points in a group, totally outplayed them by every metric.
The European champions scraped the result, though, and now look to have booked their place in the Round of 16.
