TOKYO, Aug 5: England superstar David Beckham opened his goal-scoring account for new club Real Madrid with a trademark freekick on Tuesday as the Spanish giants recorded a 3-0 victory against FC Tokyo.

Japan’s National Stadium erupted in a sea of camera flashes as Beckham curled one of his legendary set-pieces around a wall of defenders and into the back of the net following a foul in the 37th minute by the Japanese side.

“We have tried him out in several positions and today’s game allowed David Beckham to perform. I am very pleased,” Real Madrid’s new head coach Carlos Queiroz told a news conference after the game.

The goal turned the match in Real’s favour, said FC Tokyo coach Hiromi Hara.

“The free-kick is Beckham’s secret weapon and once he is settled with his new team, Real Madrid will be able to make use of this,” he said.

In another first as a Real player, the 28-year-old England captain, was yellow-carded just eight minutes into the rain-soaked match for tripping FC Tokyo forward Yuta Baba, but the glitch did nothing to dampen the now-common Beckham mania, which is especially crazy in Japan.

Portuguese international Luis Figo — who moved over to his favoured right side of the pitch mid-way through the first half after Beckham shifted into the centre — set up Real’s second goal by Santiago Solari.

And Brazil star Ronaldo, who only played in the second half, finished things off by scoring in the final minutes of the game.

It was another routine triumph for the star-studded squad — minus injured French international midfielder Zinedine Zidane — in the second match of an Asia-wide tour which is set to earn the club some eight million euros (9.1 million dollars). They beat a select Chinese side in Beijing at the weekend.

FC Tokyo made Real work hard early on, attacking with vigour and almost taking the lead in the fourth minute when a Teruyuki Moniwa strike went just wide.

But the positional switch by Beckham and Figo signalled a change in tempo for the nine time European champions to the delight of the Japanese crowd, who roared with excitement every time a ball went near the Tokyo goal.

Torrential rain dampened spirits slightly as did the news that Zidane would not be making an appearance during the game. But Japanese fans, especially those cheering for home-side FC Tokyo, were in good voice, bashing drums and cheering throughout the game.

Some 54,268 fans attended the game. And with so many stars present, security was tight with some 200 police and 800 private security guards, an official said.

The 55,000 tickets for Tuesday’s game were sold out in one week in mid-June, even before Beckham signed on with the Spanish club.

Real Madrid are also due to play in Hong Kong and Bangkok. —AFP