Star Brazil forward Neymar Jr may be getting booed and abused by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fans but Brazil coach Tite claims that the superstar footballer is happy in the national team squad.
Tite insisted that he is happy playing for his country amid harsh treatment from fans while donning his club jersey. Notably, Neymar was booed by PSG fans when he made his first appearance for PSG in the season. Despite the harsh treatment, Neymar netted home a stunning injury-time match-winning goal to help PSG clinch important three points.
The 27-year old forward had already played for Brazil after being involved in one of the most anticipated transfer deals which failed to materialise before the transfer deadline. Tite has now confirmed that he is in a happy space at least with his national team and teammates.
“Neymar is happy. Neymar is happy in Brazil national squad,” Tite stated at a press conference on Friday.
“And I’m talking about the national squad and to all the people who are near us and know how our daily routine is like here. Because this is a theme of conversation among us. He is happy here.
“We can’t control other situations … what I can say is that, yes, he is happy and showed this during the matches more than any other thing,” he added.
Neymar’s name has also been included in Brazil’s squad for friendly matches against Senegal and Nigeria in Singapore next month.
When asked about the quality of the opposition, they would be up against, Tite stated that it is getting increasingly difficult to organise regular matches against top-quality sides. He even revealed that a match against Germany was proposed but never happened.
“That’s a calendar issue. We just can’t change it. We get in touch with all the best national squads. And, when we can’t play against them, it’s because we’ve tried but they didn’t want to play against us,” he said.
“Can I give Germany [as an] example? Germany proposed us a date. We said yes. Then they proposed another day. We said yes again. Then they informed us that they didn’t want to play anymore. I’m giving you information,” he concluded.