David Beckham had his first contact with his new Real Madrid teammates Wednesday when the Spanish powerhouse regrouped for a promotional tour of the Far East.

Beckham, who was signed from Manchester United for US$40 million last month, took the limelight as Madrid's suntanned players assembled after a four-week vacation at a training ground for routine medical tests. They were due to fly to Kunming, China, later in the day.

The England captain stayed silent as he posed briefly for photographs, then hurried to his car.

Madrid sports director Jorge Valdano said Beckham's initial meeting with the players had been "very normal."

"There's nothing special to mention," Valdano said. "It was a meeting between soccer people. Soccer has a universal language. Beckham is very calm, to the point of being shy."

Beckham will make the trip with Madrid's other summer signing -- manager Carlos Queiroz, who was also previously an assistant coach at Manchester United.

The Mozambique-born coach, who spent last season at United as the assistant coach, took charge after Vicente del Bosque was surprisingly fired a day after guiding Madrid to a record 29th Spanish league title last month.

Valdano announced that Queiroz would be heading a 25-player touring party, including star players Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Raul Gonzalez and Roberto Carlos.

Close