David Beckham has joined in criticism of Real Madrid's promotional tour of the United States and Asia, saying it has hampered preparations for next season, said the Associated Press.

"There have been some difficult days," the England captain told the Real Madrid website on Thursday. "Physically, it hasn't been good for the players although it has been important.

"The games have been very tough because we haven't been able to train hard and we are still short of fitness. You finish the games very tired and it takes longer than normal to recover, but that is to be expected.

Real have won four of their five matches but slumped to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat by J-League strugglers Tokyo Verdy on Monday, a game in which Beckham was involved in a halftime bust-up with an opponent.

"We were out of sorts against Tokyo Verdy because we were tired from the constant travelling, the changes of time zone and the flights, but we have still been playing well," he said.

Former world players of the year Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo have also complained about the punishing schedule of the six-match tour which lasts 18 days.

Although Real are expected to pocket around $25 million, there has been a negative press reaction to their performance in Beijing, and they have failed to fill the stadiums in their games in China and Japan.

Real's final stop is Thailand, where they will play a friendly against a Thai All-Star team in Bangkok on July 29. The players will rest for a few days before departing for Austria to begin their pre-season preparations in earnest.

Editor: Donald