Real Madrid draw 30,000 fans to training session in Thailand

Some 30,000 Thai fans turned out to watch Spanish giants Real Madrid train at Bangkok's Rajamangala stadium ahead of their friendly against the Thai national side.

The all-star team flew in from Hong Kong where they posted a handy 4-2 victory over a Hong Kong XI.

If they prevail over the Thai side it will make for a four-nil clean sweep on their tour of Asia, which has also taken in China and Japan.

Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos said Saturday that he hoped the match, part of a campaign by the to Spanish team raise its profile in Asia, would be a winner with Thai fans who have already made it a sell-out affair.

"I hope Thai fans will enjoy and be impressed by the match tomorrow," he told a press conference ahead of Sunday's game at the 50,000-seat Rajamangala stadium.

Fellow superstar Luis Figo said the Asian tour had been a learning experience for the players.

"We had new experiences, we learnt about new cultures ... and new football tactics," he said. "Asian players have a different style to the Europeans so it was useful for us to bring these tactics to improve our game."

Carlos insisted the players were happy to be joined by the newly-signed David Beckham, England captain and football's pin-up boy.

"Beckham is one of the world's best players. We are glad he's joining us and everybody in the team is happy to play with him," he said.

On their arrival in Bangkok, the players were greeted by 400 screaming fans when they reached their hotel, where they were garlanded with flowers.

Security for the team and the match is extremely tight, with two police assigned as bodyguards to each of the players.

Police said a total of 1,200 officers will be deployed to ensure the 37-hour visit goes off without a hitch.

They said they were anxious to avoid a glitch which allowed a fan to invade the pitch during last month's tour by English Premier League team Liverpool.