Brazil manager Tite accused Tunisia of trying to ruin Neymar's chances of going to the 2022 FIFA World Cup after the Selecao defeated the African giants 5-1 in an international friendly on Tuesday night.
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Neymar started in his country's drubbing of Tunisia in Paris, and got himself on the scoresheet for the 75th time for Brazil, making him just the third South American footballer to reach that mark behind Lionel Messi and Pele.
During the encounter, the 30-year-old was roughed up on a number of occasions by his opponents, winning three free-kicks, with one of those fouls earning Dylan Bronn a straight red card in the 43rd minute.
Tite, who has been in charge of Brazil since 2016, believes the Eagles of Carthage were intentionally trying to hurt the former Barcelona No. 11.
The game on the pitch – we knew he would be competitive, loyal, but I didn't imagine the move that happened to Neymar," he said, according to the Daily Mail.
"It's a move to get players out of the World Cup.
"The competitive spirit doesn't allow you to play a friendly that doesn't have an emotional clash, so we wanted to prepare and we went to risk it, yes.
"But that's what we decided to do."
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With his 75 goals for Brazil, Neymar needs just three more strikes on the international stage to surpass Pele's all-time tally of 77 for the Selecao.
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