Ronaldo doubt for Real's tour games in Japan

Real Madrid's brief promotional tour of Japan got off to a worrying start on Wednesday when Brazilian striker Ronaldo hobbled out of a training session early and midfielder Zinedine Zidane played in apparent discomfort.

Ronaldo, who looked far from match fit, left the training session after 20 minutes and officials later said that he had a problem with his knee and was likely to miss one and possibly both matches in Tokyo.

Zidane also looked uncomfortable during the session and at one stage clutched his hamstring in apparent discomfort. After the session, Zidane claimed his condition was good despite the tough travel schedule.

"We didn't play for a day and a half and had a long flight, but if I sleep well tonight, I'll be OK tomorrow," he told reporters.

"I feel my condition is good because I've had a holiday and spent time with my family, and I'm happy to be wearing the white of Real Madrid again."

However, Zidane would not comment on rumors of his possible retirement from the French national team.

"I am not saying about that at the moment," was his only response.

Real are in Tokyo to play two friendly matches against J. League clubs, meeting JEF United Ichihara on Thursday and Ossie Ardiles' Tokyo Verdy 1969 on Sunday.

Wednesday's training session included a spell with Real's stars playing with local school children watched by around 4,000 fans at a council pitch in the working class Edogawa section of eastern Tokyo.

After the children left the pitch, manager Juan Antonio Camacho kept things decidedly low-key in the team's first training session in Tokyo.

Zidane said that the manager and the players were still feeling each other out.

"First, the coach has to get to know the players and the players have to get to know the coach. We've only been training together for a week and it's still pre-season. We'll see how things work out further down the road. It's going to be a long season."

England skipper David Beckham took part in the training session with the rest of his team mates and was greeted by the usual screams of joy from Japanese schoolgirls when he stepped out for workout.