All eyes on me: Beckham goes up against Al Sadd veteran Jafal Rashed [AFP]

That's the figure sources at Doha's Al Sadd football club quoted as the fee paid to the Italians for a match that can have had little else in it for them.

Struggling 12 points behind leaders Inter in Serie A, and out of the Uefa cup, a 12-hour round trip was hardly the best preparation for their home match against Atalanta on Sunday.

Maybe Milan's ageing stars felt Father Time's grip on their own collars when they agreed to play this testimonial for Al Sadd's Jafal Rashed, who retired after Wednesday's match following an incredible 27 years at the club.

Maldini cameo

That's only four years fewer than Paolo Maldini has been at the San Siro, although coach Carlo Ancelotti protected his venerable captain by hauling him off after just 15 minutes at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

Milan prevailed 2-1 in a match that made them look like they'd be right at home in the domestic Qatar Stars League – mainly due to their own lethargy and Al Sadd's willingness to have a go.

We did at least see why the Italian giants are so keen to keep hold of David Beckham, who is due to return to LA Galaxy next week unless his loan can be extended or an unlikely transfer deal struck.

Beyond his ability to make sections of the ground scream in unison whenever he nears the byline, the ex-England captain showed intelligent passing and was at the centre of most of his side's attacks before being withdrawn at half time.

The match also showed why Andriy Shevchenko is not getting much of a game after his return from Chelsea – although the Ukrainian took a superb through ball from Emerson to set up Alexandre Pato for the first goal on 26 minutes.

Shevchenko displayed signs of an understanding with Beckham, and could surely reap the rewards if he had half the commitment of the on-loan midfielder.

Beckham brigade

For the watching Qataris – who made a decent fist of filling the ground – this was the Beckham show.

The stadium DJ managed to announce the Milan names the wrong way round during their grandstand introduction before kickoff, but realised his mistake when he got to "Beckham David".

Such was the draw of Milan and Beckham that Qatar national striker Sebastian Soria left his rival Qatar Sports Club shirt at home to play for Al Sadd for the night, although Beckham was off the pitch by the time the naturalised Uruguayan got on as part of a queue of home substitutes.

"It was strange to play for Al Sadd, but to play against a team like Milan was a great experience and great for my career," Soria told Al Jazeera afterwards.

Milan stayed tight-lipped over exactly what it meant to play against Soria and Al Sadd, marching straight off the pitch at full time with barely a glance at the assembled media.

King Jorge

On the pitch, Al Sadd had struck back through Mohammed Golam, who collected a raking cross from Mohammed Abdurab to fire past Christian Abbiati after 35 minutes.

The lead lasted just three minutes, as Marek Jankulovski set up the rampaging Luca Antonini to lift the ball beyond Qatar national keeper Mohammed Saqr.

Substitute Filipo Inzaghi had the ball in the net in the second half only to be ruled offside, while Phillipe Senderos denied Soria an equaliser with a last-gasp challenge on the line following Hassan Al Haidous' run and shot.