Geneva: Brazilian-born central defender Pepe, capped for the first time seven months ago, expressed his joy over scoring his first goal for Portugal at Euro 2008 on Saturday.
Pepe netted the crucial opening goal after an hour of Portugal's 2-0 victory over Turkey in the Group A match at Stade de Geneve.
"It was an incredible sensation, scoring my first goal for Portugal," the 25-year-old said after winning his fourth cap.
"I just went for it," he said of his run into attack where he exchanged passes with striker Nuno Gomes before racing into the area to score.
"I was very motivated," said the soft-spoken defender, who joined Real Madrid at the start of last season for 30 million euros ($46.82 million).
He had shown his attacking prowess in the first half when he headed a cross home only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.
Portugal had taken their time to break down a resilient Turkish team who played as equals for the first 35 minutes before the Group A favourites imposed themselves on the game.
GREAT DEFENCE
"Portugal have shown their quality, they have a great defence," said playmaker Deco, who praised the back four for their work in holding off a spirited Turkish attack.
He said Turkey's strength and organisation took time to break down. "We came up against a good team, we expected them to be as good as they were. Now we know what we have to do be able to qualify," he added.
Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was relieved to win having seen his side make a losing start to Euro 2004 on home soil. "Today we achieved 50 percent of our qualification," he told a news conference.
Scolari added that he was particularly pleased that his team kept their shape. "It was great the way we maintained our (team) structure," he said. "Now we need another good job against the Czech Republic. But this (result) gives us the possibility of a slip up. We can breathe a bit (preparing) for our next match.
"We must maintain our rhythm but not let this success make us over-confident." Portugal face the Czechs, 1-0 winners over co-hosts Switzerland in Saturday's tournament opener in Basel, on Wednesday in Geneva.
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