Real Madrid blunder again on gaffe-prone Asia tour
David Beckham and Real Madrid were accused of another public relations gaffe by partying at a Hong Kong nightclub just hours after cancelling a training session because they were too tired.
David Beckham and Real Madrid were accused of another public relations gaffe by partying at a Hong Kong nightclub just hours after cancelling a training session because they were too tired.
Real Madrid touched down in Hong Kong on Wednesday on the latest leg of a money-spinning Asian tour, only to disappoint around 1,000 fans by abruptly scrapping a planned training workout.
Officials said Beckham and the rest of Real's millionaire squad -- which includes Brazilian internationals Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, as well as France's Zinedine Zidane and Portugal's Luis Figo -- were too tired too train.
But pictures of Beckham, Ronaldo and team-mates enjoying a late night out at the Dragon-i nightclub were plastered all over Hong Kong's papers, with several contrasting Real's conduct with that of Chinese NBA star Yao Ming.
Yao, who played in an exhibition match at the Hong Kong Coliseum on Wednesday, received widespread praise for his conduct during a flying visit to the territory.
"Yao wins hearts as Beckham parties," a front-page headline in the English-language South China Morning Post daily read.
"NBA star Yao Ming dunked ... while Real Madrid flunked," the paper commented, saying Real's no-show at Wednesday's training session had left fans "hot, bothered and disillusioned."
Real looked to be in danger of compounding their gaffe on Thursday, when they kept a crowd of around 20,000 fans waiting in boiling sunshine before finally starting training more than one hour later than scheduled.
Local TV reports said the superstars only made it back to their hotel at 3am after their night on the town.
When training did get underway, all appeared to have been forgiven, with fans cheering and applauding wildly as the squad were put through their paces.
Real, who have been reportedly paid around 20 million Hong Kong dollars (2.5 million US) to appear in Hong Kong, play a Hong Kong select side bolstered by a handful of Chinese internationals on Friday night.
The match at the 40,000 capacity Hong Kong Stadium sold out within hours of tickets going on sale last week, with some fans camping out days in advance to pay for tickets priced between 500 and 1,500 Hong Kong dollars.
But their four match tour -- which ends in Bangkok against Thailand on Sunday -- has been bedevilled by PR problems from the outset.
During a week-long training camp in Kunming, southwest China, players astounded officials by skipping a banquet given in their honour, before cancelling two training sessions.