Van Gaal Hails United Tour's Impact

Louis van Gaal spoke proudly of Manchester United's big impact in America after the Reds beat Real Madrid in front of a national record crowd for a 'soccer' game.

The Dutchman was delighted to beat the European champions at the vast Michigan Stadium, where 109,318 fans turned up to see United book a place in Monday's International Champions Cup final thanks to Ashley Young's double and Javier Hernandez's second-half goal.

"Broadcasters all over the world should show the first goal [by Young] – it was a fantastic goal," said van Gaal after the match. "I think all the team touched the ball [in the build-up]. People could have come to the stadium just for that goal, I think.

"Three hundred thousand fans have watched us already and, now we're in the Miami final, it [the total] will be even more than that," he added, referring to the success of United's coast-to-coast US trip.

If van Gaal's men were to go on and win the cup on Monday, the achievement of winning a pre-season trophy in his first month in charge would follow similar successes with his clubs in Germany and the Netherlands. "But the impact of this tour would be bigger," he reflected.

Assessing the overall display, van Gaal said: "It's a very good result for us and it gives confidence to the players. I changed players in the second half but in spite of that, we scored again. This wasn't a friendly - I had the feeling that Real Madrid didn't want to lose, which is why Cristiano Ronaldo came on earlier than Carlo Ancelotti said he would. But we won and deserved to win."

Looking ahead to his first meeting with arch-rivals Liverpool as United manager, van Gaal said: "It is good for English football, that's very important. It's only preparation time (pre-season) but it's better to win than to lose."