Reporting from Seattle — David Beckham was standing at his Galaxy locker, the one with the color photograph of him and his three sons in Real Madrid uniform, and he was being adamant.
"It's always nice to prove people wrong," he said. "That never gets old, I must admit.
"But it's not over yet. We've won this part of it [Major League Soccer's Western Conference title], but there's still another part to win. As satisfying as it is to quiet a few people, it's not over yet."
Sometime this evening, it will be over. The final whistle of MLS Cup 2009 will have sounded a Qwest Field in Seattle and Beckham, at age 34, will or will not have added an American championship to the titles he won in England with Manchester United and in Spain with Real Madrid.
If he does so, it will be doubly satisfying for the English midfielder, who was ridiculed in Europe for his 2007 move to MLS and heavily criticized in his first two seasons here by fans and the media for his perceived lack of commitment and on-field impact.
All that could change in just 90 minutes.
The Galaxy, MLS champion in 2002 and 2005, is favored to defeat Real Salt Lake in the 5:30 p.m. match (on ESPN and Galavision), if only because of its pedigree and the fact that it has Beckham and Landon Donovan in its lineup.
But Beckham is nursing a bone bruise in his right foot, probably will have to play on painkillers, will be wary of the rain-slickened artificial surface and is facing the hottest team in MLS.
Real Salt Lake ousted the defending champion Columbus Crew and the Cuauhtemoc Blanco-inspired Chicago Fire en route to today's final. Notably, it won both playoff series on its opponent's home turf.
Add in the fact that Real's roster includes no fewer than nine players with strong Southern California connections and it is easy to see why the Utah side, which plays an adventurous brand of soccer under Coach Jason Kreis, could spring another surprise.
"We got to the playoffs and we opened some eyes," starting goalkeeper Nick Rimando, formerly of UCLA, said Thursday.
There are four Galaxy alumni in the Real Salt Lake fold -- assistant coach Robin Fraser being the most prominent of a quartet that also includes midfielders Clint Mathis and Ned Grabavoy and forward Robbie Findley.
Real's first appearance in an MLS final in only its fifth season in the league might be a surprise, but Los Angeles getting back to the title match after three seasons out of the playoffs is equally eyebrow-lifting.
