Real Madrid president Florentino Perez hit back at David Beckham for saying his lack of Euro 2004 fitness was down to training inadequacies at the club. England skipper Beckham was widely criticised for his displays in Portugal and partly blamed the Spanish season.
"We understand your concerns, David. We agree with you that training was not up to it," answered Perez.
"But who did not train at all during the Christmas break? Who keeps flying back to England when asked to rest?"
Perez asked Beckham to take responsibility for his own actions and vowed to improve Real Madrid training next season.
Beckham had criticised his club's training structure, saying: "I don't think we've done as much conditioning work at Madrid as we used to at Manchester United but that's the way it is in the Spanish league. "I didn't feel as fit in the second-half of the season as I did in the first-half and maybe that's the way the Spanish game is.
"Maybe it has spilled over into Euro 2004, but I'm not going to make excuses."
MMIX
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