Real Madrid rallied to beat Beijing Hyundai (formerly called Beijing Guoan) 3-2 in a rain-soaked friendly match in Beijing Saturday night.
Beijing Hyundai opened the score in the 32nd minute through Lu Jiang. Real Madrid's Laul Gonzales Blanco leveled the scoring four minutes later in front of 40,000 local fans.
In the 73th minute, Jelic of Beijing Hyundai overpowered Pavon of Real Madrid and kicked the ball past Real Madrid goalie Casillas into the net.
Six minutes later, Guti of Real Madrid stunned rivals Beijing Hyundai and scored an equalizer.
In the 82th minute, a penalty kick from Ruis Figo helped Real Madrid seal a 3-2 win over Beijing Hyundai.
It is Real Madrid's second exhibition trip to Beijing in three year.
Heavy rain dampened Chinese fans' enthusiasm for Real's super stars. Only a little more than half seats of the stadium, with a full capacity of more than 70,000 people, were occupied in contrast to the sellout crowd in the United States when Real played their first two tour games.
Right before the start of the match, more than 600 yuan (US$72) tickets had been sold at the price of 200 yuan (US$24) by scalpers out of the stadium, and the 180-yuan (US$21) ones depreciated to 40 (US$5).
In an internet survey conducted by the web company sina.com.cn, over 96 percent of participants thought that Real came to China with the sole goal of making money. About 62 percent said they wouldn't support Real for sure if they came again, and another 27 percent said they were bored by the super star show and wouldn't be crazy as before.
Real Madrid first came to Beijing in 2003 also on an exhibition tour.
The Spanish soccer giants are on their pre-season tour of the United States and Asia. They are to play two matches in Japan and another in Bangkok before returning to Madrid on July 30.
(Xinhua News Agency/China Daily July 24, 2005)
