We must apologise. The Hong Kong media has been suggesting that charging more than it cost to go to a match at last year's World Cup simply to watch a pre-season friendly was exorbitant.
We must admit to a gross error of judgment. Real Madrid, for all their hapless fumbling off the pitch and with the considerable assistance of a heroic Hong Kong squad, produced a night of dazzling entertainment that left a stadium record of 39,206 fans feeling every cent spent a worthwhile investment.
For the record, Real won 4-2 - with Luis Figo from the penalty spot, Ronaldo twice and Raul finding the mark for Madrid - while Wang Peng and Li Yao prevented the margin from exceeding two.
Real, playing their first-choice line-up with David Beckham on the right side of midfield in a 4-4-2 formation, spearheaded by the lethal Raul-Ronaldo combination, had the ball in the net twice in the first 10 minutes. In the third minute the imperious Zinedine Zidane found Roberto Carlos, whose change-up in gear was similar to a Ferrari compared to a Mini. But Raul was offside as he slipped the ball home.
But three minutes later Roberto Carlos, the man with the biggest thighs in football, again burst into the Hong Kong box. Lee Wai-man helplessly brought him down and Figo coolly thumped the penalty low into the right-hand corner of An Qi's goal.
Hong Kong and their six mainland guests, all of whom started the match, then had the temerity to launch an attack. It was, in hindsight, a mistake. Ronaldo broke down the right and Lee Wai-man was quickly able to store up a tale of being embarrassed by two of Brazil's World Cup-winning stars. Ronaldo stepped over the ball, not once, not twice, but three times, and then let a bullet explode from his left foot off the inside of An Qi's near post.
The inflatable thunder sticks roared their approval, heralding the oncoming storm, and the Hong Kong XI seemed about to get caught in the deluge.
