Neymar, 20, was quick to bemoan the jeers aimed at his team-mates during the friendly clash and his coach has now stuck up for the Santos striker, saying he is exhausted after a busy couple of months.

"We're going to work through this calmly. (Neymar) is the best Brazilian player and we can't have our best player treated like that," Menezes told reporters after the match.

"I thought he was very tired, probably because he played a lot of games recently. A player isn't a machine. They need time to recover."

Still at the helm of the side despite their failure to pick up a gold medal at the London Olympics, Menezes has conceded that criticism was inevitable.

"I think all the criticism is normal. I wish it were different, but it's not up to me to change the behaviour of the fans. The team as a whole has its good and bad moments," he said.

"We were collective, and that's when we decided the game."

Brazil's next match is an international friendly against China on Tuesday.