Real Madrid announce Asian tour schedule

Real Madrid will play matches in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia on their pre-season tour of Asia, the club announced on Thursday.

The Spanish champions will take a full-strength squad, including new signing David Beckham, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Raul and Luis Figo, on the 17-day tour, which forms an important part of a bid to strengthen their presence in the Asian market.

Real will be the first major professional club to visit China since the outbreak of SARS forced a spate of cancellations.

The women's World Cup was moved from China to the United States after the epidemic struck, and German champions Bayern Munich and English premier league side Liverpool also scrapped friendly matches planned for July.

Real will arrive in China on July 25 before spending a week training in the south-western city of Kunming.

They then play the so-called "Dragon Team", a squad made up mainly of Chinese national players, on August 2 in Beijing.

Three days later they travel to Japan to play FC Tokyo, before moving on to Hong Kong to face China's national team on August 8.

They wind up the tour on August 10 with a match against the Malaysian national team in Kuala Lumpur.

For David Beckham it will be his second visit to the Far East within a few weeks.

The England captain and his pop star wife Victoria have been in Vietnam this week as part of a promotional tour also taking in Japan, Thailand and Malaysia.

Beckham is due to undergo a medical at his new club next Tuesday before being presented to the media the following day.

Tour schedule:
July 25: Arrive Kunming for pre-season training camp
August 2: Match v Dragon Team in Beijing
August 5: Match v FC Tokyo in Tokyo
August 8: Match v China in Hong Kong
August 10: Match v Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.