Former Champions League winners Real Madrid are set to receive €6-million (about R54-million) for a single game in South Africa, a club official confirmed on Tuesday.
Real manager Jorge Valdano said the current Spanish champions will travel to South Africa between their two Champions League fixtures against Bayern Munich and play a South African selection on March 2.
The money Real is to be paid for the trip is nearly as much as they earned last year during a four-match tour of Asia.
Current Real Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz is a former coach of the South African national team. He left just before the World Cup finals last year after the South African Football Association gave a local coach the post as technical director and told Queiroz that he had to consult the technical director on team selection.
South Africa is hoping that the match against a team that includes the likes of David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Roberto Carlos will highlight the country’s bid to host the 2010 World Cup.
Football’s controlling body, Fifa, has said that the 2010 World Cup will be held in Africa and South Africa is considered the favourite, ahead of Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.
The country is, however, facing a serious problem with violent crime and Cameroon coach Winfried Schaefer last week questioned whether the country will be able to host the World Cup. — Sapa-DPA