Beijing, Aug 02: Cheering fans greeted David Beckham and his Real Madrid teammates as they arrived in Beijing before dawn today for a weekend match against an all-star Chinese team.
The players landed at about 12:30 am (1630 GMT Thursday) on a flight from Kunming, the southwestern Chinese city where they warmed up for the Saturday game. Beckham, who joined Real Madrid a month before its Asian tour, is expected to make his debut at the match.

Hundreds of fans waiting outside their hotel in central Beijing held up pictures of players and chanted "David come out!" as the team's bus from the airport pulled up.
Later in the day, Beckham, his teammate Ronaldo and team captain Raul Gonzales met three Chinese team members in a brief appearance at the hotel before scores of reporters.

The normally press-shy Beckham didn't speak. The other players fidgeted in their seats as speeches by officials were translated into both Mandarin and Spanish.



Raul exchanged jerseys with Li Weifeng, captain of the Chinese team, which was assembled to play against Real Madrid.


Bureau Report