Siemens is scoring goals in Asia's Real Madrid mania

WHO HAS BEEN the real winner in the recent Real Madrid frenzy? The German mobile company Siemens, it seems. Every day in the past week there have been television and newspaper pictures of David Beckham and his superstar team mates wearing Real Madrid's famous white shirt with the company logo.

From Beijing to Tokyo to Hong Kong, Real Madrid mania has swept the region like a typhoon.

Siemens began sponsoring the Spanish team last year and chief operating officer Lothar Pauly says it is worth every bit of the roughly 10 million euros (HK$88.7 million) it paid. 'We did not invest in Real Madrid as a Spanish football club, we invested in Real Madrid because they have a global coverage,' he said.

Encouraged by its success, Siemens has become more aggressive in football, sponsoring the Chinese national team and the Chinese football league, which has been renamed the Siemens Mobile League.

Q: How would you rate your sponsorship of Real Madrid last year?

A: It was quite a success. They had a great season last year. They won the Spanish championship and they won the European Champions League, which draws a lot of interest and media coverage. Of course, last year the club bought Ronaldo and this year they signed David Beckham, which gives us a large presence in Brazil and Britain and also Asia. Meanwhile, [Zinedine] Zidane and Luis Figo give us a respectable audience in France and Portugal.