British midfielder, David Beckham (l) of Spanish Real Madrid keeps the ball during a friendly match against Japan's Tokyo Verdy, Monday. (AFP Photo)

TOKYO, July 26--Real Madrid suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat by Tokyo Verdy on Monday in the first of two pre-season games in Japan, Reuters reported.
The Spanish club were stunned by a team who had conceded 26 goals in their last six games and recently fired Argentine coach Osvaldo Ardiles.
Daigo Kobayashi gave Verdy a shock lead after seven minutes and Real's problems mounted when Brazilian striker Washington slid home the second goal in the 27th minute.
England striker Michael Owen went close in the 35th minute but Real were caught out again eight minutes after the break by Takuya Yamada's near-post header.
David Beckham started after missing Saturday's 3-2 win over China's Beijing Guo'an with a hamstring injury.
The England captain was involved in a simmering feud with former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Kazuyuki Toda that threatened to spill over as the teams left the pitch at halftime.
Beckham's last contribution before being taken off in the 58th minute was an audacious free kick from the halfway line that almost caught out Verdy goalkeeper Yoshinari Takagi.
Real had already cancelled Tuesday's training session with the players complaining of fatigue and they lacked urgency and creative spark.
They began the pre-season tour with victories over Mexico's Chivas Guadalajara and the Los Angeles Galaxy in the United States.
Real's six-match trip is set to earn the club around $25 million but there were swathes of empty seats among the crowd of 30,000 in Tokyo.
Real play Jubilo Iwata on Wednesday before finishing the tour with a friendly in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, David Beckham believes England teammate Michael Owen's place at Real Madrid is not in danger despite the club's determination to sign Brazil's Robinho.
The possible arrival of the 21-year-old Santos striker has cast doubt on Owen's future in Madrid but Beckham said the former Liverpool striker had nothing to fear.
"Michael is established in this team, with the manager and with the fans," Beckham told Reuters after Monday's humbling 3-0 pre-season defeat by Japan's Tokyo Verdy.
"I'd like Michael to stay because one, he's a good friend and two, he's a great player."
But Beckham said he would welcome the arrival of Robinho, whose move to the Spanish club is being challenged by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).
"He's a great player," said Beckham.
"From what Roberto (Carlos) and Roni (Ronaldo) say, he's one of the best young players in the world.
"I haven't really been looking at what's been going on and whether he's coming or going--but if he comes, that's great."

South African swimmer Roland Schoeman celebrates setting a new world record and taking the gold in the final of the men's 50m butterfly at the World Aquatic Championships in Montreal, Monday. (Reuters Photo)

MONTREAL, July 26--Roland Schoeman broke his second world record in 24 hours to win the 50 meters butterfly final on Monday and become the first South African to capture a world swimming championship, Reuters reported.
The 25-year-old thrashed his way down the Montreal pool in a slick 22.96 seconds to shave 0.05 off the world record he set in Sunday's semifinals and add a world title to his Olympic gold from Athens last year.
Jessica Hardy also set a world record in the semis of the women's 100m breaststroke on Monday while her fellow Americans Brendan Hansen and Katie Hoff swam the second fastest times in history to win gold in their respective finals.
Hansen won the men's 100m breaststroke after a desperate struggle with his Japanese rival Kosuke Kitajima while 16-year-old Hoff enhanced her reputation as one the rising stars of women's swimming with a runaway victory in the 200m medley.
Jessicah Schipper won the women's 100m butterfly final to provide Australia with their third gold medal from the first two days of the championships.
They were level with the US although the Americans are likely to surge ahead on Tuesday after leading the qualifying times in each of Monday's semifinals.
Aaron Peirsol and Natalie Coughlin, who hold the men's and women's 100m backstroke world records, both topped their events as expected while Hardy led the 100m breaststroke after stopping the clock at 1:06.20, beating the previous record held by Australia's Leisel Jones.
Michael Phelps posted the fastest time in the men's 200m freestyle semis to prove that he had recovered from his shock failure in the 400m freestyle on the opening day.
Grant Hackett, who cruised to victory in the 400m after Phelps failed to make the final, was fourth fastest in the 200m semis after conserving his energy for Tuesday morning's 800m heats.
But it was Schoeman, who became South Africa's most decorated Olympian when he won gold, silver and bronze in Athens, who stole the limelight.
He flew off the blocks and quickly built up a lead which he held right through to the end, leaving former world record holder Ian Crocker of the US in his wake.
Crocker took silver in 23.12 and Sergiy Breus of Ukraine the bronze in 23.38.

ZAGREB, Croatia,
July 26--French Open champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Croatia Open on Monday less than 24 hours after winning his eighth claycourt title of the year, Reuters reported.
The Spaniard, who has become the youngest player in more than a decade to qualify for the season-ending Masters Cup, aggravated a knee injury during Sunday's Mercedes Cup final victory.
"I have had problems with my right knee, tendinitis. By itself, it's not so serious but could become so if I go playing from one tournament to another without rest," Nadal told reporters in Umag, the venue of Croatia's only ATP tournament.
"I am really sorry for not playing here where there are so many top players."
The knee, however, did not prevent the 19-year-old from joining world number one Roger Federer as the only two players to have qualified so far for the elite eight-man Masters Cup finale in Shanghai.
"For me it's a dream. Now I'm among the eight best players in the world, which is very important to me," Nadal said in a statement after climbing to a career-best second in the world rankings."
Nadal produced another stellar performance in Stuttgart, where he defeated Gaston Gaudio 6-3 6-3 6-4 in the final.
The win improved his 2005 claycourt record to 48-2 and extended his winning streak on the surface to 34.
Nadal, who in June became the first debutant since Mats Wilander in 1982 to win the men's singles crown at Roland Garros, is second in the ATP Race, more than 250 points clear of third-placed American Andy Roddick.
The Mallorcan, the youngest qualifier for the year-ending event since Andrei Medvedev in 1993, is only the third teenager--after Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg--to reach second in the world rankings since the system was introduced in 1973.
The top seven players in the ATP 2005 Race plus eligible grand slam champions qualify for the eight-man round-robin event from November 13-20.

LEICESTER, UK,
July 26--Inter Milan launched their pre-season tour of England with a 2-1 win over second division Leicester City on Monday, Reuters reported.
The Serie A side announced on Saturday they were pulling out of the tour because of safety fears following the London bombings earlier this month, only to reverse their decision 24 hours later.
Leicester were sunk by goals from Santiago Solari and Lampros Choutos. Substitute Chris O'Grady replied with a penalty for the home team.
Roberto Mancini's side will continue their four-match tour with a game against second division Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Coach Mancini said his players were not unduly worried about playing in London.
"From Milan to Rome to London, the fear is the same," he told reporters. "There's not a huge fear because of playing in London, any more than playing in other places."
Inter are also due to play Premier League Portsmouth and second division Norwich City on their tour.

Phil Mickelson (l) and Retief Goosen pose with their trophy after defeating Tiger Woods and John Daly 5&3 to win the Lincoln Financial ÔBattle at the BridgesÕ golf match at The Bridges golf course in Rancho Santa Fe, California, Monday. (Reuters Photo)

RANCHO SANTA FE, USA, July 26-South Africa's Retief Goosen birdied four of the last six holes Monday to lift himself and Phil Mickelson past top-ranked Tiger Woods and John Daly 5 and 3 at the ÔBattle at the BridgesÕ.
Mickelson made five birdies in 13 holes to help spark the triumphant duo, who split one million dollars while Woods and Daly shared $400,000 in the seventh annual made-for-television event featuring Woods, AFP said.
Goosen and Daly, who shared third at the European Players Championship in Hamburg on Sunday, flew from Germany overnight to southern California. While long-hitting Daly struggled, Goosen showed no sign of fatigue.
"Goosen played unbelievably good," Woods said. "I thought the jet lag might kick in but he was just too good."
Eight days after winning his 10th major title at the British Open, Woods found himself unable to sink the key putts while Mickelson, a member at the host club, paired well with Goosen and offered putting advice where needed.
"I started a little bit shaky but I had Phil to guide me around here," Goosen said. "We made some good putts and it went really well."
Mickelson said he felt like throwing away his putter at the US Open but felt like kissing it here.
"It's nice knowing the surface," Mickelson said. "It was smooth putting all around the course."
Mickelson and Goosen went 1-up by winning the fifth hole and kept that edge through the turn.
Woods lipped out a six-foot birdie putt at the 10th, failing to match Goosen and falling two holes down. Mickelson and Goosen took two of the next four holes with birdies to go 4 up with four to play and Goosen closed it out with a final birdie.
Mickelson and Woods each birdied the first hole. Woods birdied again on the par-3 second to give his duo their only lead but Mickelson answered with a 10-foot birdie at the par-3 fourth to level the match.
Goosen missed the first three greens while Daly found the water off the fourth tee, saying, "I feel like diving in there to wake up."

SHEFFIELD, UK,
July 26--World 100 meters champion Kim Collins believes he will need to run faster than he has ever done before if he is to retain his title in Helsinki next month, Reuters reported.
Collins was a surprise winner in Paris two years ago in what was the slowest final since the first world championships were held in 1983.
The 29-year-old has personal best of 9.98 seconds, set in 2002, still way short of the world record 9.77 run by Jamaican Asafa Powell last month.
"The way things are looking now, it looks like 9.8 seconds or 9.9 seconds is going to do it," Collins told a news conference on Monday.
"After what happened on Friday night, I feel confident that I could be in that bracket."
Collins clocked his fastest time of the season of 10.00 when finishing third to Olympic champion Justin Gatlin at the London Grand Prix last Friday.
"Hopefully I'll be able to go much faster in Helsinki, set a new personal record and win. You never know what's going to happen on the big day. I may have a good day and cause another upset."
The sprinter, from the tiny Caribbean island of St Kitts & Nevis, finished second from last at the Golden League meeting in Rome earlier this month but was happy with the way his erformances were improving.
"When I won my world title, I'd had more races. Being in shape and being in race-shape are two totally different things.
I feel that I'm just getting where I need to be in terms of the right type of competition going into the championships," the 29-year-old said.

HELSINKI, Finland, July 26--Jyrki Heliskoski has been appointed caretaker coach of Finland for the rest of their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, AFP reported.
The 59-year-old Heliskoski replaces Antti Muurinen on a temporary basis, the Football Association of Finland said on its website on Monday.
Heliskoski has previously coached HJK Helsinki and several Finnish youth teams.
President Pekka Hamalainen said the appointment would give the Football Association of Finland time to search for a coach for the 2006-07 European Championship qualifying campaign.
Muurinen, 51, who had been in charge since 2000, was sacked after his team's hopes of reaching the World Cup finals were virtually ended by a 4-0 home defeat by the Netherlands last month.
Finland play their next qualifier against Macedonia on August 17. They are fourth in Group One, 13 points behind the Dutch and 12 adrift of the Czech Republic.

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 26--FIFA ordered Kenya to play its World Cup qualifier against African champions Tunisia Ôbehind closed doorsÕ in Nairobi on September 2 after a stampede in a previous game in the capital, a FIFA statement said Monday.
A stampede caused by overzealous fans waiting to purchase tickets and enter the Nyayo National Stadium for the June 18 qualifier against Morocco resulted in the death of a 15-year-old schoolboy and scores others injured, AFP reported.
The Kenyan government has ordered an inquiry into the tragedy but the outcome has not been revealed. But acting on the report of the match commissioner, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Marciel Mathier also fined the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) 25,000 swiss francs.
"Prior to the match, a crowd managed to force down gates to the stadium leaving a 15-year-old supporter dead and 15 other fans injured," the FIFA statement said.
"A series of other incidents also took place before, during and after the game." Kenya is scheduled to play Tunisia in Tunis on August 17 in the first leg match which was postponed from 2004 after the East African nation was banned by FIFA owing to government interference in the sport.
But KFF officials said they would appeal the ban, arguing that the punishment was to harsh for a country struggling to improve its flagging sport.