REAL AWAKENING GALAXY NO MATCH FOR SPANISH POWER REAL MADRID 2, GALAXY 0.

Byline: Scott French Staff Writer

CARSON - On the eve of his team's Southern California debut, Real Madrid's Brazilian coach, Vanderlei Luxemburgo, was asked if he could name even one Galaxy player.

Luxemburgo, a former Brazil national team coach well-versed in soccer around the globe, looked perplexed.

``I always like to talk about teams ...,'' he said. ``We respect the Galaxy.''

So, uh ... no.

On Monday night, in a jam-pakced Home Depot Center, there wasn't a whole lot of reason to know Galaxy individuals. The Galaxy as a team - now, that's something else.

Real Madrid, making the second stop of an Amerasian tour meant to spread the gospel of the world's most successful club, might have toyed with the home team, putting on a scintillating show in a 2-0 triumph that wasn't as close as the score might suggest. But the Spaniards walked away impressed with the Galaxy, its effort and how it never gave up.

It meant only so much. The Galaxy's goal was to demonstrate the gap separating it from the world's best isn't as vast as believed, but the difference between the teams was enormous - and evident almost from the opening whistle.

``They're very good,'' David Beckham said of the Galaxy. ``They worked hard, were very competitive, and they caused us problems at times. But it's tough for them, obviously, to play against some of the players we've got.''

A Real starting lineup featuring most of the club's massive stars - everyone, really, except Ronaldo and Luis Figo - withstood an early Galaxy assault, then took charge, spreading the ball around the field in pretty patterns that drew gasps from a crowd announced as 27,000 but appearing to be far larger.

Englishman Michael Owen and second-half substitute Robert Soldado finished nice sequences for the goals, and French wizard Zinedine Zidane showed that, at 33, he remains the world's foremost talent, maneuvering through traffic with touches almost beyond comprehension and orchestrating a multifaceted attack that repeatedly put the Galaxy backline on its heels.

``They're the best team in the world,'' said Galaxy forward Jovan Kirovski, who played 13 seasons in Europe before coming to MLS last year. ``They have the world-class players, but we put up a fight, created a few chances, and it was a good game.''

The Galaxy did have its chances, but Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas kicked the ball off Cobi Jones' foot in the eighth minute, and Herculez Gomez fired just wide left from 30 yards at the start of the second half.

Real could have scored three, or more, in the first half, when it dictated play, holding possession for long stretches that sometimes led to superb oppotunities and at others ended with fine defensive work by the Galaxy.

Zidane was the critical figure in the first goal, Owen's, just six minutes in. He took a long pass from Guti, turned and ran toward the Galaxy box, played a quick give-and-go with Owen to maneuver past defender Ugo Ihemelu at the semicircle, then stepped to his right to elude Chris Albright, chipping the ball ahead.

Owen ran onto it and chipped it over sliding goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and into the left-side netting, eliciting wild cheers - from Galaxy and Real fans alike.

Beckham and Owen nearly added to the advantage, chipping wide from distance, and Hartman, in succession, parried a 30-yard blast by Roberto Carlos and, on the ensuing corner kick, Francisco Pavon's header, then stripped Zidane after the Frenchman split Ihemelu and Tyrone Marshall.

Hartman also came up big in the second half, making two stops in quick succession in the 67th minute. He had no chance on Soldado's goal, a 22-yard missle to the lower-left in the 75th.

The Galaxy clearly missed the one player Luxemburgo might have known, Landon Donovan, who is with the U.S. national team preparing for Thursday's CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal against Honduras.

Most of Real's big names - Zidane, Owen, Roberto Carlos, Raul, Guti, Beckham (slowed by a sore hamstring) - departed in the second half, some of them to raucous applause, and Figo (but not Ronaldo) saw time at the end.

Real's players seemed elated by the crowd's response.

``I think it was a very proud moment for every one of us, to play in front of a crowd like that,`` Beckham said. ``It's quite difficult to find a crowd that supports both teams as much as it did tonight. It was an honor to play out there.''

Scott French, [phone]

scott.french(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Above, Real Madrid's Michael Owen (11) is congratulated by teammates David Beckham, center, and Raul after Owen's first-half goal, which he put past a sliding Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, left. Real Madrid added another goal from Roberto Saldado in the 75th minute and improved to 2-0 on the U.S. leg of its world tour.

Photos by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images, Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

(3) Real Madrid's Jose Maria Gutierrez, left, tumbles over the Galaxy's Cobi Jones, bottom, as Ugo Ihemelu looks on.

GettyImages