Beckham in Beijing for Madrid debut

Beijing:

It's Super Saturday for David Beckham as he makes his much anticipated debut for Real Madrid against an all star China side in Beijing. After training for the past week in Kunming, South East China, Real Madrid arrived in Beijing late Thursday night. Excited fans thronged the airport as people jostled frantically to catch a glimpse of their favourite soccer stars. Real kick off their much hyped Asia tour on Saturday with their first game against a select group of Chinese professional soccer players. Football mania Meanwhile, in Hong Kong excitement has reached fever pitch. Around 5,000 hopeful fans waited in a queue, some even camping for nearly three days, to buy tickets to see Real Madrid play a joint China-Hong Kong team. Over 24,000 tickets are up for sale and going by the resilient crowds here it's only a matter of time before they will be all sold out! Betting legalised And for all those waiting to bet on the Real-Hong Kong match but unable to do so there is some good news. Until now gamblers in Hong Kong had only been allowed to bet on horse racing but from Friday soccer betting has been legalised. Though the decision hasn't met with everyone's approval, the government clearly disagrees and more importantly sees this as a way of increasing tax revenues. Betting is set to reach its peak once the English Premier League kicks off and officials expect the booming trade to net in nearly 3.8 billion US dollars in the very first year.