Neymar hits out at former agent over Tite insult

Neymar condemned his former agent Wagner Ribeiro for claiming Brazil boss Tite was never fit for office and “spent years deceiving the people”.

The criticism followed Brazil’s World Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of Croatia, who stunned the Selecao in a penalty shoot-out on Friday after a 1-1 draw.

Defeat marked the end of Tite’s six-and-a-half-year tenure as Brazil head coach, with the 61-year-old confirming his “cycle is over” following the game.

Ribeiro posted a picture of Tite on Instagram, and wrote: “This man was never a football coach. He spent years deceiving the people, losing 2 cups.

“He’s only fit to be the valedictorian of the graduating class.”

That prompted an angered response from Neymar, who snapped back: “Don’t talk s*** Wagner!”

Tite always planned to step down after the World Cup, regardless of how Brazil got on in Qatar. He announced that intention in February, and Brazil proved unable to live up to their billing as trophy favourites.

Neymar scored a sublime goal in extra time against Croatia to give Brazil the lead, only for Bruno Petkovic’s deflected shot to pull the 2018 World Cup runners-up level.

Tite was a serial trophy winner at club level with the likes of Internacional and Corinthians, and he led Brazil to the Copa America title in 2019, although they relinquished their hold on that trophy last year when losing to Argentina in the final.