Real Madrid to strut stuff here?

MANILA, Philippines - After successfully staging two games featuring NBA superstars at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum last July, the Manny V. Pangilinan Group of Companies is now thinking of bringing the Real Madrid football and basketball teams to the country.

“We have received feelers from Real Madrid, they want to send their basketball and football teams here,” said Pangilinan in Wednesday night’s Meralco Sparks team launch at the Meralco building in Pasig City.

Meralco’s partner Indra, an Information Systems and Information Technology company, has been working out and trying to make the Real Madrid team play the local cagers as well as the Azkals.

“One of the partners of Meralco, Indra, suggests the idea of bringing the Real Madrid basketball and football teams here,” said Pangilinan.

“We’re talking to them on how much it’s going to cost us and about their calendar (of events).

“I guess it’s on the drawing board but I don’t want to raise expectation, I hope we could work out the economics of the thing,” he added.

Real Madrid’s basketball squad is called the Baloncesto while its football team, called Los Blancos, Los Merengues and Los Vikingos, is one of the most successful club in Spanish football in terms of international and overall trophies.