Madrid, Aug 12: Real Madrid returned to Spain yesterday after finishing a glitzy 18-day tour of the Far East tailored more to the needs of the club's marketing department than to those of its all-star squad.
Parading new signing David Beckham, the nine-times European champions covered close to 30,000 kilometres to play four exhibition matches in Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
The tour, primarily designed to help the club crack the lucrative Asian market, was an undoubted success on many fronts and demonstrated the immense pulling power Real now possess.
Even for training sessions, adoring fans packed the stadiums to the rafters. The welcome afforded to the players, in particular Beckham, frequently bordered on the hysterical.
There can be few who can now challenge Real's own claim that they are the most popular club in the world.



Financially the tour was also a success, with the club banking 10 million euros ( 11.28 million) in appearance money for the four exhibition games, while the exposure on television will ensure a major boost in the sales of club merchandise.



But although they played some eye-catching football during the tour, Real also managed to score some spectacular own goals.



The trip was littered with public relations gaffes that led to allegations of arrogance against the team and its directors from the local press.



The team disappointed thousands of fans in Hong Kong by cancelling a training session because of tiredness, only for several players to be spotted later in the island's most popular night clubs.



Real also appeared over an hour late for an open session, and Chinese officials were left bewildered when the team left a dinner function after only 20 minutes.


Bureau Report