Major League Soccer has no shortage of underdog tales, but few can match the remarkable transformation of Real Salt Lake in 2009, a team that went from the bottom of the standings to lifting the MLS Cup in one of the most dramatic runs the league has ever seen.
At the start of that season, nobody believed in them. RSL had struggled since joining the league in 2005, often finishing near the bottom of the Western Conference. By September 2009, they were barely clinging to playoff hopes, and critics wrote them off as just another small-market team destined for irrelevance.
But then something clicked. Led by head coach Jason Kreis, himself a former MLS player, RSL squeezed into the playoffs as the final seed — a team with a losing record that looked more like cannon fodder than a contender. What followed was nothing short of a miracle.
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In the first round, they stunned the heavily favored Columbus Crew, the reigning champions.
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In the conference finals, they edged out the Chicago Fire in a nerve-shredding penalty shootout.
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Finally, in the MLS Cup Final, they faced the star-studded LA Galaxy, led by David Beckham and Landon Donovan.
Few gave them a chance. But RSL battled the Galaxy to a 1–1 draw, forcing yet another penalty shootout. Against all odds, goalkeeper Nick Rimando delivered the performance of his life, making clutch saves that earned him the nickname “The Wall.” RSL won the shootout 5–4, lifting their first-ever MLS Cup in front of a stunned crowd.
The fairy-tale ending didn’t just give Real Salt Lake their first trophy — it changed the narrative around the club and the league. Suddenly, fans believed that any team, no matter how overlooked, could rise from the ashes and take on the giants of MLS.
Players like Rimando, Kyle Beckerman, and Javier Morales became cult heroes, not for being flashy superstars, but for embodying grit, resilience, and heart.
As coach Jason Kreis famously said in the aftermath:
“This isn’t a team of stars. This is a star team.”
It was a Cinderella story that shook MLS to its core — proving that sometimes, the unlikeliest champions write the most unforgettable chapters.
