Beckham's eastern promise

David Beckham and his new Real Madrid team-mates reached the dramatically beautiful Far East outpost of Kunming on today for the first leg of their four-stop summer tour.

Their three-week visit is already being called the most important sporting event to take place in the region this year, even though the Spanish champions are only to play four friendly matches.

The first of those, on Saturday week, August 2, will mark Beckham’s debut, with Madrid to play a ‘Dragon XI’ in Beijing.

When the star-studded Madrid squad landed at Kunming Airport in China, there was no word of the row over appearance fees which has seen the fourth scheduled match of the trip against Hong Kong cancelled and replaced by a fixture against Thailand.

Instead, hundreds of fans besieged the airport, with most straining for a glimpse of England skipper Beckham, the man whose fame and popularity in China far exceeds that of his new team-mates.

It was not Ronaldo who most of the patient fans had come to see, nor Zinedine Zidane, nor Luis Figo, Raul or Roberto Carlos.

The cameras, amateur and professional, were almost without exception trained on Beckham, who has become familiar with such attention in the Far East following his recent whistle-stop promotional tour.

But as he stepped off the plane which had left Madrid at 3pm yesterday afternoon, the words of club president Florentino Perez and sporting director Jorge Valdano would have been ringing in Beckham’s ears.

With Perez trying to play up Beckham’s role on the tour, and Valdano insisting he is no more important than the other 24 players who have made the trip - including Steve McManaman – the 28-year-old’s head was probably spinning.

“Let no-one have any doubt Real Madrid only sign footballers, the best in the world. Beckham is exactly the same as Zidane, Ronaldo and Figo but he will help us a lot to boost our image,” said Perez prior to departure.

But Valdano is taking a more cautious approach, and has urged Beckham to focus on his football above all else, even on this tour against opposition which Madrid could probably annihilate if they felt the inclination.

He met his new team-mates for the first time on Thursday, when Madrid’s players reported back to the Bernabeu following their summer breaks.

After swiftly conducted medical check-ups, a squad of 25 was whisked off to Madrid airport for the long-haul flight to Asia.

There was time though, for Madrid sporting director Jorge Valdano to hold his first briefing of the new season, and the new boy was high on the Spanish media’s agenda.

“I understand Beckham is at the centre of attention, but, for us, it is 25 players that we received this morning and all of them are in good shape,” said Valdano.

The Argentinian, a member of the 1986 World Cup-winning team, is determined that the new recruit should be considered just another member of the squad, even though he recognises that many of the questions he will face on tour will be Beckham-centric.

“Beckham is physically an outstanding player and now it is necessary to get him into the squad,” Valdano added, before being asked how the former Manchester United midfielder is getting along with his new club-mates.

“They are just footballers and there is a universal language in football. Besides, Beckham is a very relaxed person, we can say he is even a bit shy.”

Kunming is a city of 3.7million inhabitants surrounded by mountains, and while there, the Madrid squad may consider visits to the Stone Forest, Jiuxiang Caves, the Black Dragon Pool, the Bamboo Temple or the Anning Hot Springs.

The nine-times European club champions are certainly there to meet the public, and their presence will be high-profile, Valdano has promised.

He revealed how a tour of the United States could have been more lucrative in the short term, but – with star commodity Beckham now on board – there is a club ambition to crack the rich Asian market.

“Real Madrid is a team with a universal influence so we think it is a good idea to get closer to those fans that do not get a chance to see our football during the regular season. In terms of promoting our image, I think this is an strategic tour for the club,” said Valdano.

“We are going to China because we want to go to China.

“Our intention is to be near the Asian fans and, at the same time, get ready for a very demanding season.

“We are going to work hard and we hope our working time is respected. Then, there will be time to meet the fans. We hope the security forces do not hamper our contact with the people.”