DC United hold Real Madrid

Spain's Real Madrid kicked off its pre-season tour of the United States with a 1-1 draw against leading Major League Soccer side D.C. United on Wednesday.

A capacity crowd of 66,830 at Seattle's Quest Field saw DC United provide a stern test for the Primera Liga side, despite falling behind to an Antonio Cassano goal in the 22nd minute.

The Italian's early near-post strike, finished neatly after he was found by Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos, was cancelled out three minutes later when Alecko Eskandarian slotted the ball past Spanish international keeper Iker Casillas.

Eskandarian was put through by Freddy Adu, after a darting run by the talented 17-year-old put the Spanish side's defence on the back foot.

Madrid fielded all three of their major off-season signings with Brazilian midfielder Emerson and Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the starting line-up, while Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro came on as a halftime substitute.

"Based on the performance we gave and my own performance, I think there is a lot there to build on," Van Nistelrooy told reporters after the match.

Madrid almost added a second goal after the break when D.C. United keeper Troy Perkins turned aside a booming free kick from Roberto Carlos that spilled out to Emerson, whose deflected shot grazed the post.

D.C. United's Adu said he wanted to show that U.S. soccer could compete with the world's major stars even if it could not win over home support.

"The crowd cheered a little too much for the other team," joked Adu after the game. "I thought this was America."

Madrid's next match is against Real Salt Lake in Utah on Saturday before the side returns to Spain to compete in the Ramon de Carranza Cup.