Quotes of the Day

Another summer, another Asian fundraising tour by Europe's top soccer clubs. Cashing in on the game's popularity in the region, Real Madrid and Manchester United between them last week kicked their way through Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo and Beijing, racking up multimillion-dollar appearance fees along the way.

Lesser teams, too, are parading before Asian fans. Rotterdam's Feyenoord went to work in Nanjing late last month, and even Sheffield United, from England's second division of clubs, rounded off its own three-game tour of China last week. The team's big attraction? Veteran Chinese star Hao Haidong. "We're looking at [China] as a long-term enterprise," says Terry Robinson, Sheffield United's vice chairman.

The perception has been that Chinese fans are easily pleased, but expectations are rising. Beijing's Workers' Stadium was two-thirds empty for Man U's game; fans in the same arena jeered Real Madrid's halfhearted showing. Players will only "do what they have to do to drive the interest," suggests Rob Mason, managing director of London-based sponsorship consultant firm SBI. "There are signs fans are getting wise to this." That's something to tackle next summer.

• ADAM SMITH
• Europe's football clubs head east to an adoring Asia for the summer