Ecstatic fans cheer arrival Real Madrid ( 2003-07-25 15:36) (Agencies)
David Beckham and his Real Madrid teammates landed Friday
in China, greeted by folk dancers with elephants and cheering fans hoping for a
glimpse of the Spanish soccer powerhouse's newest player.
Chinese woman (L) screams as Real
Madrid's midfielder David Beckham arrives at the training centre in
Kunming, the capital of China's southwestern province of Yunnan July 25,
2003. [Reuters]
The team is due to work out in Kunming, in the mountains of China's
southwest, before launching an Asian promotional tour with a match Aug. 2
against an all-star Chinese team. The game will be Beckham's first with Real
Madrid.
About 400 fans lined the street to the training camp as Beckham and his
teammates, looking tired after a flight from Madrid and wearing garlands of
flowers presented by a Chinese welcoming committee, arrived by bus from the
airport.
Madrid's 25-player lineup also includes stars Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis
Figo, Raul Gonzalez and Roberto Carlos.
The festivities included folk dancers, musicians playing
drums and cymbals and four elephants. Fans waved signs saying ``Beckham I Love
You!'' and ``Figo Crazy For You'' and red flags with the logo of Madrid's Asian
tour.
Chinese women perform a dance to
welcome Real Madrid players as they arrive at a training centre in
Kunming, the capital of China's southwestern province of Yunnan, July 25,
2003. [Reuters]
``I am so excited. I have no words to (describe) that I saw Beckham today,''
said Liao Wending, a 22-year-old factory worker who took the day off to see the
team arrive. ``I'm so moved, I was screaming and shouting as he walked by.''
Fans in white Real Madrid T-shirts reached out toward the players as they
approached the training camp. Some players stopped to shake hands, but the
increasingly press-shy Beckham, surrounded by a dozen Chinese photographers,
just gave a slight smile.
``He's so handsome and he has so much class and breeding,'' said Deng Fang,
26, a tobacco factory employee and cheerleader for the Kunming soccer team.
``He was so calm,'' she said. ``But I'm really sad I didn't get to shake his
hand.''
Soccer is hugely popular in China, with tens of millions of fans following 15
teams in the country's top league and dozens of smaller clubs.
China has sent players to British teams. And though few have spent time in China, Beckham - known in Chinese
as ``Beikehanmu'' - and other foreign stars are already celebrities here.
Real Madrid's Luis Figo arrives in Kunming
International airport in southern China on July 25, 2003. Real Madrid
arrived in Asia on a three week pre season tour.
He Yajing, a 16-year-old fan from Chongqing who traveled hundreds of
kilometers (miles) to Kunming to see Beckham, blushed as she listed all the
Beckham memorabilia she owns - posters, T-shirts, dolls, books.
``The pile is pretty big,'' she said.
A sign on one busy road in Kunming, a city of about 3.5 million people dotted
with lakes and surrounded by lush mountains, said ``Warmly welcome Real
Madrid.''
Advertisements for the team's arrival were posted on public buses. A Kunming
newspaper last week featured Beckham and his wife, the former Spice Girl
Victoria Beckham, on its front page.
The tour is expected to boost Madrid's income through merchandising and
marketing and is aimed at helping the club widen its global appeal. The club
will earn a reported US$3 million in match fees.
Real Madrid meets FC Tokyo in Tokyo Aug. 5 and plays China in Hong Kong three
days later.
Madrid's final game against Malaysia scheduled for Aug. 10 in Kuala Lumpur
was canceled after the country's soccer federation balked at an appearance fee
for the Spanish team that was reported to be US$2.9 million.
