Despite its illustrious history, things haven't gone well lately. Since winning its last major trophy in 2003, Madrid's massive throng of fans has endured numerous coaching changes and a number of frustrations.

The latest to try and fix Real Madrid is Italian coach Fabio Capello, whose distinguished career includes a stint with Madrid back in the late '90s.

"The results in the past haven't been what we wanted, but we've had a change in leadership in our team in Fabio Capello," said Gonzalez. "We will continue to work hard to make sure we get the results we believe we require as the club we are."

Real Madrid, which always makes big summer signings, has already bought three players during the current European transfer window. It signed Fabio Cannavaro, who captained Italy to the 2006 World Cup title, and Emerson from Juventus. Capello coached both players at Juventus until a match-fixing scandal rocked Juventus and the rest of Italian soccer.

Madrid's other signing was prolific striker Ruud van Nistelrooy from Manchester United.

Expectations will be sky-high for those players throughout their tenure at Real Madrid.

ENDLINES:Raul and teammate Roberto Carlos sat next to each other with a single microphone during Tuesday's press conference. Throughout the 30-minute event, each player spent time playfully pushing the microphone in front of the other . . . RSL chief executive Dean Howes said Tuesday the team is donating 500 tickets to youth players in Utah and Salt Lake County. . . . Checketts thought Saturday's match would've already sold out, but he expects Rice-Eccles Stadium to be at capacity by the time the match begins. He said the fact that RSL didn't allow fans to purchase single-game tickets for a long time is probably to blame. . . . Rumors endlessly circulate throughout the U.S. soccer community about the possibility of European stars, including Beckham, ending their careers in MLS. Asked about whether he would one day be interested, Gonzalez responded: "I think that's a possibility that us as players will look at."

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E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com