Tour has left us drained, says Becks

ENGLAND captain David Beckham has admitted that Real Madrid’s long-haul pre-season tour to the US and the Far East has left the players physically drained.

Madrid are currently reaching the final stretch of their tour and their travels, which began after less than a week’s pre-season training, have taken them to Chicago, Los Angeles, Beijing and Tokyo.

They have been greeted by crowds at airports and at their hotels, with over 20,000 watching a training session carried out in Japan.

“There have been difficult days on the tour,” Beckham said.

“Physically it is not good for the players. It is hard because we have still not done any hard training and we have not got up to competition speed. You finish the games feeling very tired and it is harder to recover.”

This is the third time Madrid have undertaken an extensive pre-season tour.