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Woodgate finally makes Real Madrid debut
MADRID, Aug 23 (Reuters) - England defender Jonathan Woodgate made his first appearance since joining Real Madrid a year ago when he played in the 5-0 win over the Major League Soccer All-Stars in the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy on Tuesday. Woodgate, who joined from Newcastle United for around 20 million euros ($24.47 million) last August, was given a standing ovation when he came on for Ivan Helguera four minutes from time. He touched the ball three times while he was on the pitch, passing it neatly out of defence, but he did not have to make a tackle or chase down any of the opposition strikers. "It's been a very hard year for me but I've finally made my debut and obviously I'm delighted," said Woodgate. "I need to play a lot more with the team but for now I'm really pleased. I've got to say a big thank-you to the fans for the reception I was given, I felt it in my heart." Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo said Woodgate's debut was an important step on his road to full integration in the team. "It was our objective to fire up Woodgate," said the Brazilian. "We are trying to build a team here and if he looked emotional that was what we wanted." The 25-year-old centre-back had not played a competitive match since tearing a thigh muscle while playing for Newcastle against Chelsea in a league encounter in April 2004. Woodgate was due to make his debut for Real last October but suffered a recurrence of the injury in a training game and did not play for the rest of the season.
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