Real hoopla is a big thrill after months of royal pain

So that's why they call it Real Salt Lake: "Real" means "royal" in Spanish — which is only appropriate.

First, there was the royal wringer the Salt Lake County Council put RSL owner Dave Checketts through over stadium funding. And the royal pomp and circumstance as Real Madrid marched into town. Then came the royal

sigh of relief, once the stadium deal was done. And the royal groundbreaking ceremony Saturday — with golden shovels, no less.

Not to mention the genuine tabloid royalty in attendance.

And finally, the royal 2-0 thumping Madrid slapped on RSL.

Defeat never went down so easily.

The biggest international sports event to hit Salt Lake since the 2002 Olympics wrapped up Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium as soccer giant Real Madrid defeated its quaint American wannabe in a "friendly" match. How friendly was it? Enough so that fans cheered loudly when Madrid was introduced and showered it with confetti after the game.

Friendly enough that pop icon and Madrid midfielder David Beckham didn't entirely rule out the possibility of one day playing here. Imagine Posh Spice, Beckham's celebrity wife, doing the suburban thing in — where else? — Sandy.

But enough celebrity daydreaming. The future's biggest question, as far as Checketts is concerned, has been resolved. There remain two brands of football in town. The Steve Young/Alex Smith kind and the Jeff Cunningham/Jason Kreis kind.

"To utter a pioneer phrase, ladies and gentlemen, this is the place," Checketts said at the groundbreaking ceremony in Sandy.

Saturday evening's Xango Cup match ended what was undoubtedly the most schizoid week in the RSL's two-year history. All along, Checketts remained determined to honor a self-imposed Aug. 12 deadline for stadium funding. He made it no secret that leaving town was an option, noting that he had three solid offers for the team and at least four other "soft" offers.

At the same time, he huddled with politicos as the weekend came and they hammered out a plan to keep the team in town.

How close was he to leaving? "Uh . . . I don't know. I don't know," said Checketts. "I even surprised my partners at the dinner (late Friday night) with Real Madrid when I got up and said we're putting a shovel in the ground tomorrow."