Even if only one of them (Mehmet Okur) ever has attended a game, even if nobody admitted watching more than a few minutes of the action Sunday, the Jazz nevertheless expressed admiration Monday at Real Salt Lake's MLS Cup championship.

"Congratulations to them," Andrei Kirilenko said. "I know nobody will take it like too serious, but it's really a big deal. MLS is the biggest league in America and Real came as a new team and probably the youngest team to ever win."

"That's good for them," Kyle Korver added. "That's awesome. Good for Salt Lake. Obviously, I wish it was us trying to win that championship, but at the same time, that's a great story for them."

With the Jazz still searching for their first championship

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in their 36th season, RSL was credited with winning Utah's first major pro sports title since the ABA's Utah Stars in 1971. Kirilenko, the Jazz's biggest soccer fan, offered the best assessment of the game.

"They played pretty good," said Kirilenko, who tuned in periodically. "I think Galaxy is a little bit better team let's say level-wise, but in futbol, when you're playing harder, when you're playing kind of concentrated, you can beat any good team."

That's different from basketball, Kirilenko added, where it's difficult for a lesser team to keep up given the frequency with which both teams score.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan called himself a soccer supporter. Not only have his grandchildren played, Sloan added that

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he's long believed it makes more sense for small towns (like his hometown in Illinois) to field soccer teams rather than more expensive football teams.

"I didn't see the game, but I heard they won and that's great," Sloan said of RSL's championship. "Anybody from Salt Lake, I'm going to pull for."

There was no word Monday on whether the Jazz would honor RSL in some way. They did so for the Utah Utes football team earlier this year following their undefeated season and Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama.

Wesley Matthews might be the Jazz's best soccer player, having set scoring records at his Madison, Wis., high school. One of Matthews' former teammates (Trevor Banks) was an all-conference player in college at Old Dominion and is trying to play in MLS.

With RSL winning in a penalty-kick shootout, Matthews said he'd been in the same situation often during his playing days. "I shot last," Matthews said. "I was the deal-sealer right there. There was one situation, I was the goalie. I did a little bit of everything."

Korver knew that RSL had won the Cup despite finishing with a losing record (11-12-7) in the regular season, something he said never could happen in the NBA.

"It seems like upsets are more possible in something like soccer," Korver said. With best-of-seven playoff series, he added, "The NBA playoffs, the better team almost always wins. I mean, 99 percent of the time it seems like. But good for them."

Deron Williams said he'd like to attend an RSL game at Rio Tinto Stadium. Same thing for Kirilenko, though he noted the difficulty with the Jazz's schedule. Okur did go to one game at Rice-Eccles Stadium, before RSL moved to Sandy.

He was asked about RSL downing a Galaxy team featuring David Beckham and Landon Donovan. "How about that?" Okur said. "They beat a great team and good players. Is the city excited about it?"

rsiler@sltrib.com