England captain David Beckham wants to put all the hoopla surrounding his transfer to Real Madrid behind him and just concentrate on playing football, he said at his first news conference in China on Wednesday.

"I'm just looking forward to playing football," Beckham told reporters ahead of his debut on Saturday in Beijing versus the Dragon Team, a select squad of Chinese professionals.

Beckham, who joined Real for 35 million euro ($40.40 million) from Manchester United on July 1, has drawn the crowds to the club's training sessions in the southwest of the country.

Asked if Real had signed him for money or football reasons the midfielder said: "I don't know whether you think any different, but as far as I'm concerned it's football."

Beckham played down reports he had chosen the number 23 shirt because it belonged to basketball great Michael Jordan.

"...they (the media) made a comparison of the 23 and Michael Jordan. But the number 23 was offered to me and, you know, I took it. I was offered two numbers of which I chose the number 23."

As for his rudimentary Spanish, the Londoner said learning a new language was difficult but it was important for him to learn it as soon as possible.

"The players are helping me, I am helping the players to speak a little bit of English, and we're communicating quite well, on the pitch as well," he said.

Beckham has grabbed the spotlight since joining Real's constellation of stars, although some pundits have doubts over whether he will sparkle amongst the likes of Ronaldo and Raul.

He has to prove he merits a regular place in a team stacked with world class players like Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo.

NATURAL POSITION

At the Tuodong Stadium in Kunming on Tuesday, where 20,000 fans paid between 180 and 780 yuan ($22-94) to watch a practice match between Real's first team and the reserves, Beckham played in his natural position on the right flank.

Figo, who has mostly featured on the right for Real since he joined them from rivals Barcelona, played on the left wing in the latest sign that new coach Carlos Queiroz may switch the Portuguese star to make room for the England midfielder.

Real mania has taken hold in China but the team has caught its share of bad publicity in the early stages of their promotional swing through the Far East.

The club has stranded hundreds of paying, rain-drenched fans at practices and even government officials at banquets due to a string of scheduling foul-ups blamed on misunderstandings with local organisers.

However, Beckham's larger-than-life image is sure to help Real build their brand in Asia and besotted fans have tracked his every move so far in China, where he is often referred to as "Little Bei" and, sometimes, "Brother Bei".

The Chinese soccer tabloid Balls Weekly said 29,000 tickets were sold for Tuesday's practice match, which was watched by China's former coach Bora Milutinovic.

Yunnan Television, the state-owned provincial broadcaster, had bought the rights to broadcast the entire week's training sessions.

Close

Today's Top News		Top Sports News
+China's richest village: It takes brains and guts ( 2003-08-19) +Relief for indigent college students ( 2003-08-19) +Leaders meet Australian PM ( 2003-08-19) +New security official promises open mind ( 2003-08-19) +Government to rationalize auto sector ( 2003-08-19)		+Beckham is Collina's favourite player ( 2003-08-19) +The goal is unbelievable: Sun Jihai ( 2003-08-18) +Agassi, Clijsters top US Open seedings ( 2003-08-19) +Jamison goes from Warrior to Maverick in nine-man deal ( 2003-08-19) +I can handle the criticism, says Beckham ( 2003-08-19)