What a Carry On

While the David Beckham Roadshow rolls on, trailing a wake of stardust across Asia, the suspicion is increasingly strengthening that football considerations come a distant second on the agenda.

Real Madrid were always going to head East for the pre-season tour that underlines the commercial aspirations of one of the most famous - and therefore most marketable - clubs in the world.

Beckham's arrival from Manchester United, that template for turning a football club into a brand name, was merely the sugar coating which ensured a continent's youth would overdose on the Real thing.

But there have been concerns voiced already about certain aspects of a tour that had coined in the cash of Chinese devotees long before Madrid's comfortable 4-0 opening victory in Beijing on Saturday night.

Beckham knows only too well from his time at Old Trafford that the bigbusiness aspect of the modern game can over-ride other considerations, with United's own long-haul summer tours near the top of the list.

Still, England's captain had no need to broach the subject last night, however much the dressing-room grumbles might have been aired behind closed doors in China this past week.

Luis Figo rolled that particular grenade into the public arena when he told a downtown Tokyo hall full of Japanese, Spanish and English journalists that pre-season preparation was usually more physical.

'We are not used to these kind of things,' he offered, before diplomatically adding: 'But it's good to have contact with our Asian fans.'

'These kind of things' might well embrace the mob of young nurses who raced Carry On style to garland Beckham and Co before Real's strolling work-out against a willing but limited China Dragon XI in Beijing.

It certainly will include the bizarre public training session on the Astroturf of the Dome - Tokyo's baseball stadium and no relation to London's white elephant - witnessed last night by 45,000 people.

What's more, they were paying customers. The £15 cost of tickets did not deter 25,000 buying the seats inside five minutes of them going on sale - the rest following along with the inevitable black market.

What they got for their money was a show from Figo, Raul, Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane and, of course, Beckham, but there was more than a touch of the Harlem Globetrotters about it. Nor were the supreme artists at their best, even though inhibitions can be cast aside for exhibitions.

Real's players had been travelling for most of the day and Tokyo's serious Sunday traffic, after the three-hour flight from China, meant they had to head straight for training from Narita Airport.

Granted, fans will have the opportunity to see Real in serious action tomorrow, although FC Tokyo are unlikely to trouble the Spanish champions any more than those Dragons did.

But are the fanatics of the Far East being cynically exploited, bearing in mind that one Chinese training session was cancelled after fans had bought tickets for up to £35, a large amount of money in rural areas?

That sort of inquiry was never going to elicit a straight reply from Beckham. 'It's a question none of the three of us can answer,' he said with a nod towards podium partners Figo and goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

'The fans have been there every time we've trained, but it's nothing to do with us. We're always happy to see the fans.'

Players do like to moan and the itinerary of a financially- orientated whistlestop tour that has still to take in Hong Kong and Bangkok before the welcome plane to Spain was always going to foment sedition.

But Figo's assertion that the team's fitness should be the prime consideration for coach Carlos Queiroz before the big kick-off will be hard to argue with, especially if Real make a less than perfect start.

Beckham may not have been included in any meaningful dressing-room meetings for, as he cheerfully admitted: 'Not many of my team-mates speak English, so it's been difficult explaining "pass the ball", let alone having a discussion.'

However, he may well have been stressing the lads' line when he emphasised that 'it's important we get our fitness up' while trying to brush off praise for a commendable debut in Beijing's opening tour act.

Figo may not approve, but it was the Portugal star who scored the first goal, with two more from Fernando Morientes suggesting he can put the still overweight Ronaldo under real pressure.

Beckham took the plaudits and, along with Queiroz, Spain nodded approval for a performance that expanded after the break and showed he will fit neatly into Europe's most star-laden side.

Whether he and his team-mates will be fit to keep their Spanish title may already be decided by the money men.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in