David Beckham limped badly, the pain from a bone bruise in his right foot piercing through three pregame injections. Landon Donovan angrily ripped off his armband after watching a penalty shot go sailing over the crossbar.

The image most expected of Beckham and Donovan holding the championship trophy of Major League Soccer for the league’s marquee franchise was replaced by anger and frustration.

Instead, it was those upstarts from Real Salt Lake celebrating their first title.

Robbie Russell scored in the seventh round and the scrappy underdogs from RSL beat the star-studded Galaxy 5-4 on penalties Sunday night to win the league championship.