Real Madrid's Pepe apologises for hand-stamp on Messi

MADRID Real Madrid defender Pepe Thursday apologised for stamping on Barcelona striker Lionel Messi's hand in their cup clash and said it was "unintentional", in comments published by his club.
"It was an unintentional act. All the same, if Messi was offended then I apologise to him," Pepe said in a statement published in Spanish on Real Madrid's website.
"All I mean to do is defend my team and my institution. I give myself to it body and soul. It never crossed my mind to hurt a fellow professional," Pepe added.
Real Madrid's Pepe was lashed as a "world disgrace" and a "public danger" by Spain's press on Thursday after he stamped on Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi's hand as his team headed to a 2-1 loss.
The sporting press splashed front-page pictures of Pepe's stamp on a prostrate Messi in the Spanish Cup quarter-final in the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
"Pepe, a public danger, was the biggest exponent of an impotent and deranged Madrid," blared the Barcelona-based sports daily Mundo Deportivo under a photograph of the incident in the 69th minute.
"Heroes," the Mundo Deportivo's front page said of Barca. "Villains", it said of Madrid.
Inside, the paper showed a picture-by-picture account of the stamping incident, under the headline "World disgrace".
Madrid daily Marca, the biggest sports daily, described Pepe as "disgraceful".
"Pepe again. The Portuguese again suffered a temporary mental derangement with a treacherous stamp on the left hand of Messi while the Argentine was on the ground," Marca said.
In an opinion piece, the paper said: "Pepe's behaviour was intolerable. Violent, overly aggressive, theatrical and far from what should be the attitude of a footballer in top-class competition."
In a post-match news conference, Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said he had not seen the incident but, if intentional, he agreed with a reporter that it would be "reprehensible".
Madrid's Ricardo Carvalho, asked about Pepe's behaviour after the match, in which he played for the first time in four months, said: "Pepe is tough, but he is clean and loyal."