Becks draws the crowds as 45,000 watch Real Madrid train

ENGLAND captain David Beckham continues to attract all the attention as Real Madrid prepare for the second game of their Far East tour.

The former Manchester United midfielder was the main focus for most of the camera lenses and the flower carriers on the early Chinese leg of the trip. And things appear very much the same in Japan, with 45,000 fans turning out to watch the team train on Sunday night ahead of today’s fixture with FC Tokyo.

The match, which kicks off at 11am BST, will be Beckham’s second for the Spanish champions after his debut against a Chinese ‘Dragon XI’ and he is enjoying life with his new club.

“We are satisfied with the game in China because the team played pretty well,” said 28-year-old Beckham of the 4-0 win in Beijing. “We will try and do the same thing. I enjoyed the play of my team-mates very much because they are the best in the world. The feelings were just great.

“I could enjoy the match, though, as Luis Figo says, we are not at our best because it is only the pre-season.”

The huge following Beckham attracts in the Far East appears to vindicate the club’s decision to travel out there in a the hope of securing lucrative sponsorship deals.

After experiencing such a frenzied reception during last year’s World Cup, Beckham is not surprised by the reaction he has received, but concedes that language difficulties prevented him warning his team-mates. “I have not told them about Japan because I still do not speak Spanish. I speak to them in English and not many of them can understand me. But really we are delighted with the Japanese fans.”

FC Tokyo have only been top flight in the J-League for the past three years and their growing band of supporters snapped up all the 56,000 tickets for Madrid’s visit inside three hours.

“They won’t be nervous playing against Beckham, or Real Madrid,” promised managing director Yutaka Murabayashi. “They’re very excited about it and will enjoy it.

It is believed that Madrid are collecting an appearance fee of €2m (£1.4m) and Murabayashi told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper: “It is extremely expensive for one game, but we’re lucky to have big sponsors who can invite Real Madrid to play FC Tokyo.

“We regard it is as a reward for the way the club has been run since it was founded five years ago.”

And if Beckham found it an alarming situation to be in when the flower girls swarmed around him on Saturday, he should be prepared for a similar situation against the Japanese.

“The players have been asking me how to exchange their shirts with Beckham after the final whistle,” said Murabayashi.

“Everyone is interested in getting Beckham’s shirt, and I’m expecting all 11 players to run up to him after the match.”

Real move on to Hong Kong after the match and then travel to Bangkok.