David Beckham was involved in a halftime bust-up with Kazuyuki Toda, accusing the Tokyo Verdy player of spitting at him during a pre-season friendly.
The England captain and Real Madrid team mates Ronaldo and Michel Salgado tried to enter Verdy’s changing room to get to Toda.
“Toda spat in my face,” Beckham told Reuters after Real’s 3-0 defeat to the unfancied Japanese team.
“That in life is horrible but in football no players like that. Our players saw it and they weren’t happy about it.”
Asked about the exchange, Beckham replied: “It was only handbags but nothing much. Just a few words exchanged, nothing more.”
Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo blamed Toda for the bust-up.
“Toda was very dirty,” he told reporters. “He kicked Beckham when the ref wasn’t looking. At halftime some of the players got over-excited.”
Toda denied that he had deliberately spat at Beckham.
“Beckham kicked me and I swore at him,” he said. “Some spit flew but it didn’t hit him. That’s why he got angry I think.”
