Tite denied a report Brazil had used a drone to spy on Peru ahead of their third and final Copa America group stage match on Saturday.
Peruvian newspaper Libero claimed that Brazil sent a drone to oversee Ricardo Gareca’s team train in the lead up to the Group A encounter in Sao Paulo this weekend.
Tite, whose team were held by Venezuela in their previous outing, dismissed the report from Peru, insisting that he had done nothing of the sort and would never go so far to try and win a game.
“Take my word of honour that there was nothing, the word of honour,” he told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s Copa America clash.
“If you have to pay this price to win, I’ll take my cap and go home.”
Tudo pronto! #SeleçãoBrasileira realizou hoje o último treino antes de duelo contra o Peru. Bola rola neste sábado, 16h!
Fotos: @lucasfigfoto / CBF pic.twitter.com/zIlm2fsSiJ
— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) June 21, 2019
Heading into the final matchday, Brazil and Peru each have four points in the group, ahead of Venezuela, who have earned two, and point-less Bolivia.
Brazil opened the tournament with a lacklustre first half against Bolivia before a second-half barrage from Philippe Coutinho and Everton helped seal a 3-0 win.
They followed that up with a frustrating display against Venezuela as two goals were ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee in what ended up as a scoreless draw.
Brazil was boosted by the presence of Neymar on Friday, the injured superstar briefly visiting his team-mates.
Olha só quem visitou a Seleção Brasileira na manhã desta sexta. A casa é sua, Neymar Jr.! #SeleçãoBrasileira #CopaAmerica #JogaBola
Fotos: @lucasfigfoto / CBF pic.twitter.com/3isHjuCCXd
— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) June 21, 2019
“We were together, I gave him a hug,” Tite said.
“He saw his colleagues. I wished him health and light.”
Peru, meanwhile, settled for a draw in their first match, a 0-0 draw with 10-man Venezuela.
La Blanquirroja then responded with a 3-1 win over Bolivia to move even with Brazil atop the group as Paolo Guerrero, Jefferson Farfan and Edson Flores fired the team to victory.
Brazil are looking to bounce back from a difficult Copa America in 2016, as the perennial favourites were bounced in the group stages during the Copa America Centenario in the United States.
Peru went on to win their group with seven points ahead of Ecuador, Brazil and Haiti before falling to Colombia in penalty kicks in the quarterfinal round of the competition.
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