Star-studded Spanish football giants Real Madrid completed their second China Tour in rather lackluster fashion both on and off the field. They played a friendly against Beijing Hyundai at the Workers' Stadium on Saturday evening. Real won the match 3-2.

 

Fans watched a disappointing performance from their idols. David Beckham's absence was glaringly obvious. The England international reportedly suffered a slight hamstring strain while taking a free kick against LA Galaxy in California last Monday.

 

Many fans who went to the game hoping to catch a glimpse of their idol left the stadium midway in frustration.

 

Zhang Ran, an 18-year-old fan, said: "They were just kicking the ball about. It was a really unexciting match. And the organizers should have told us that Beckham wouldn't be playing. I feel so cheated."

 

The club did not give any explanation before or after the match about Beckham's absence.

 

Real Madrid, winners of a record 29 Spanish league titles, are widely recognized as the world's most successful club. They made their first trip to China in 2002 when they played the Chinese national team.

 

All the big stars were fielded then and they staged a convincing show, crushing the national team 4-0.

 

But Saturday's performance was a different ball game.

 

Despite the enormous hype surrounding Real's visit, the 70,000-capacity Beijing Workers' Stadium was only just over half full for the match.

 

Other stars of the team like Ronaldo, Michael Owen and Zinedine Zidane came off the field in the second half.

 

In an Internet survey conducted by sina.com.cn, more than 96 percent of Chinese fans said Real had come to China with the sole purpose of making money. About 62 percent said they wouldn't support Real if they came again, and another 27 percent said they were bored by the show.

 

The Spanish giants netted as much as US$4 million in appearance fees in China, including 5 million yuan (US$616,000) for a five-minute free kick competition in the port city of Tianjin.

 

Other causes for complaint include a cancelled visit to a park in Xianghe Town in Hebei Province. Fans were not informed.

 

The following day, one of Beijing's biggest shopping malls was closed to the public to give the stars "private" shopping time.

 

The team has flown to Japan for a game on Wednesday, and will wrap up their money-spinning Asia tour with a friendly in Bangkok on Friday.

 

(Shenzhen Daily, China Daily July 26, 2005)