David Beckham gets 89-minute debut in AC Milan tie

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Galaxy midfielder David Beckham made a solid, albeit unspectacular, debut in Italian soccer on Sunday, starting and playing 89 minutes for AC Milan in its 2-2 tie against AS Roma at a packed Olympic Stadium in Rome.

Playing primarily a defensive midfield role alongside Andrea Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf, Beckham was involved in the game throughout but was not one of its lead characters. He took most of the corner kicks and a few of the free kicks, but his offensive contribution was otherwise limited.

Beckham, on a two-month loan to Milan from the Galaxy, took one shot on goal, but it was saved without bother by Alexander Doni, Roma’s Brazilian goalkeeper.

Alexandre Pato, who formed the spearhead of the AC Milan attack in front of fellow Brazilians Ronaldinho and Kaka, scored the Milan goals, both shortly after halftime. Montenegro national team striker Mirko Vucinic scored once in each half for Roma.

Milan Coach Carlo Ancelotti, who had said Saturday that it was unlikely that Beckham would start since he had not played a competitive match since October, reversed course and put the England international in his starting 11.

Ancelotti took Beckham out with about one minute remaining, the Galaxy player raising his arms to thank the crowd, which responded with a mixture of applause and whistles.

For a full report on the game, along with the reaction to Beckham’s Serie A debut, go to latimes.com/sports a little later today.

--Grahame L. Jones