Arrival of Asian Beckham

"Beckham of San Sebastian"

It was how a major Spanish daily described Lee Chun-soo, who made inroads into San Sebastian, a reason which serves as the home for the Real Madrid Sociendad.

Other Spanish dailies and sports magazines made out headlines of Lee`s arrival under the title "Asian Beckham Arrives in Real Sociedad."

The Spanish newspapers described Lee as a star player shining smile, which comes out of his heart, on each and every person he meets, and a player having a sense of fashion match-able to David Beckham.

The club, via its homepage , provided a live coverage of all ceremonies concerning Lee such as his arrival at the club, execution of the formal contract. The club literally gave a red-carpet treatment to Lee—it provides a mansion worth more than 200 million won and BMW 320 to Lee.

At an interview after the arrival, Lee said through a translator, "I thank all the people who greeted me cordially. The moment I am enjoying now will be the start of my first joy in life and true happiness."

Arriving at Spain on July 15th local time, Lee started his first official schedule with the Real Sociedad by taking a medical test.

Although he suffered from a high fever prior to his departure, Lee took the four-hour medical test at a hospital designated by the club without any problem. Lee`s heart, shown in the treadmill test, was in top condition, and club officials felt happy about it.

Lee will probably be assigned No. 19. His name will be written on the uniform as Lee C. Soo.

Lee will come back to Korea Saturday to play for the Korean Olympic national team against Japan. And, returning to his Spanish team on July 26th, Lee will joint the team training to be held in Austria from July 28.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com