David Beckham has a solid Italian league debut

The fact that the Galaxy midfielder was making his Italian league debut for visiting AC Milan was acknowledged, but the home fans were more concerned about the continuing struggles of their own team, AS Roma.

As things turned out, the crowd went away satisfied. AS Roma grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first half, was overwhelmed for a while early in the second half and fell behind, 2-1, but then recovered to earn a deserved 2-2 tie.

And Beckham?

Well, the England international, who is on a two-month loan to Milan from the Galaxy, also came out of it just about all square.

He did not look out of place in the No. 32 shirt, starting and playing for 89 of the 90 minutes, primarily in a defensive midfield role. On the other hand, he did not provide the sort of spark that Beckham fans had perhaps hoped to see.

Beckham took most of the corner kicks for Milan and a few of the free kicks. His trademark deep crosses were not much in evidence, however, and when he did curl the ball into the Roma penalty area, defenders were almost always there to head clear the danger.

Beckham took one shot on goal, an effort that appeared to be going wide right but which was snagged anyway by Doni, Roma's Brazilian goalkeeper.

Afterward, Beckham pronounced himself satisfied.

"I thought it was great, I enjoyed it immensely, I was surprised to start the game," he said. "Of course, I'm still working on my fitness, but I felt good, better than I thought I would in the game."

The 33-year-old said his intention while in Italy was "to play as many games as possible and work on my fitness and just be part of AC Milan. I feel very lucky."

Carlo Ancelotti, whose Milan team is in third place in Serie A, nine points behind leader and defending champion Inter Milan and five points adrift of second-place Juventus, had suggested Saturday that Beckham would not start.

"Beckham is ready to play even though he's been inactive for two months, but it's difficult to start him in the match against Roma," Ancelotti said.

By Sunday, however, the coach had changed his mind and Beckham, looking confident and comfortable, walked onto the field to take his place in midfield alongside 2006 World Cup winner Andrea Pirlo of Italy and former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf.

He settled down quickly -- not surprising considering the quality of his teammates.