Jul 23, 2005, 16:29 GMT
Beijing - Spanish football giants Real Madrid twice came from behind to beat Beijing Guo'an 3-2 in a night match at the rain-soaked, half-full Workers' Stadium on Saturday, though England star David Beckham missed the match because of injury.
Continuous rain since Saturday morning left pools of water on the pitch, and the absence of Beckham, the most popular Real player in China, also dampened expectations. But around 40,000 fans still flocked to the 70,000-capacity stadium.
Lu Jiang gave Guo'an the lead with a downward header in the 31st minute but Raul equalised for the visitors just six minutes later to make the score 1-1 at the break.
Guo'an took the lead again in the second half when Bosnian Branko Jelic ran on to a through ball from another of the Beijing team's foreign players, Romanian Dan Alexa, after 73 minutes.
Guti profited from a Guo'an defensive slip caused by water on the pitch, bringing the score level again on 79 minutes, before Luis Figo converted a controversial penalty to seal victory for Real three minutes later.
The heavy rain kept many fans away, with tickets worth 600 yuan (74 dollars) or more selling outside the grounds for about 200 yuan (25 dollars).
Many fans at the match wore their white Real Madrid shirts, with Beckham the most popular name on the back, followed by Ronaldo and Raul.
Some fans were also put off by the highly commercial Real Madrid tour to China, China's official Xinhua news agency said after the match.
According to an Internet survey by one of China's top portals, sina.com, some 96 per cent of respondents agreed that Real "came to China with the sole goal of making money", the agency said.
Some Chinese newspapers this week claimed friction between Real Madrid and the main Chinese organizers of their trip to Beijing was to blame for the non-appearance of star players at some promotional activities.
Hundreds of Chinese fans greeted the team outside their Beijing hotel on Thursday, with Beckham again the centre of attention.
Many fans carried large photographs of Beckham, Ronaldo, Raul, Owen and other Real players, who were reportedly chaperoned by some 400 Chinese security guards.
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