But, ironically, it was only after the former England captain was substituted at half-time that the goals began to flow.

Another former star of Major League Soccer, DaMarcus Beasley, opened the scoring, only for his moment in the spotlight to be overshadowed by Brazil's latest star Pato, before Kaka and Sasa Papac both netted late on.

AC Milan's arrival at Glasgow Airport earlier in the day had sparked a frenzy, with Beckham mobbed by adoring fans as speculation raged over his future, with the Rossoneri keen to retain his services beyond his three-month loan spell in Serie A.

Fans were treated to the sight of the LA Galaxy midfielder from the outset, with Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko also among those in the starting line-up, while £100million-rated Kaka started on the bench.

There were more surprises in the Rangers line-up, with captain Barry Ferguson and leading scorer Kris Boyd named as substitutes and Lee McCulloch, Maurice Edu, Steven Naismith and Lyle Lafferty all given a run-out from the start.

Beckham's first couple of touches were met with a combination of jeers and whistles, before Edu attempted to spark the game into life with an ambitious run into the box which brought no end product.

Lafferty went closer when he threw himself in front of a teasing John Fleck cross from the left only to nod over, before Allan McGregor did well to block a mis-hit Filippo Inzaghi effort.

The Rangers goalkeeper was called into action again when Ronaldinho was fouled just outside the box by Naismith, leaving Ibrox wondering which of Milan's deadball specialists would step up for the free-kick.

The job went to Ronaldinho himself, and his ferocious effort drew an excellent save from McGregor, who did well to push the stinging shot past his right-hand post.

Rangers had a couple of decent chances of their own before the break, with McCulloch drawing a save from Dida with a point-blank header and Pedro Mendes dragging narrowly wide of the upright.

Beckham was among those withdrawn at half-time, with both teams making a whole host of changes for the second half.

Neil Alexander - on for McGregor - was given an early taste of the action when he was forced to race off his line and claim a long ball from Andrea Pirlo before Inzaghi was able to unleash the shot 10 yards out.

Ronaldinho then stepped up for another free-kick 25 yards out but saw the effort crash off the Rangers wall.

That proved to be his last real involvement of the game and he was sacrificed for the introduction of Kaka, who earned one of the biggest cheers of the night when he was thrown into the action with half an hour to go.

Another big cheer arrived with 65 minutes on the clock when second-half substitute Beasley picked up the ball outside the box, bore down on goal and slotted low past Dida into the bottom corner.

Milan simply upped the tempo and restored parity five minutes later. Kaka's powerful cross was blocked on the by-line, cannoned off the body of Steven Whittaker and fell kindly to Pato, who tapped home from just outside the six-yard box.

The Rangers net was bulging again with 12 minutes to go when Kaka demonstrated his class, embarking on a 20-yard run before unleashing a low shot from the edge of the area which left Alexander with no chance.

Walter Smith threw Boyd into the action but it was Papac who had the final say, with a close-range shot at the near post after 83 minutes, after Spanish youngster Aaron had done all the hard work.