By David Beard, Globe Staff

A packed Giants Stadium, a strong turnout in Dallas's new stadium, and the biggest-ever crowd for international soccer club competition at Gillette Stadium on Sunday represented a huge day for soccer support in the United States.

Although the U.S. national team fell in an ignominious Gold Cup Final to Mexico, 5-0, in Giants Stadium, the gate in the Meadowlands was huge (79,156), as it was (57,229) for Sunday night's World Football Challenge match in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium between Mexico's Club America and England's Chelsea Football Club.

In Foxborough, officials said 42,531 people attended a ''friendly'' between European archrivals Inter Milan and AC Milan that included stars such as Ronaldinho, the former world player of the year, and Lucio, the Brazilian national team captain who sank the US hopes in the Confederation Club final last month in South Africa. (Inter won, 2-0.)

Colleague Frank Dell'apa reported the Gillette crowd was the biggest ever for international club competition, bettering the 35,136 for Benfica’s 2-1 win over the Revolution June 11, 1998 .

The gate was huge for another reason, said a delighted Craig Tornberg, the New England Revolution's vice president for business development. "We knew this was going to be priced highly, but the fans bought all the best tickets first, so we know there is a demand for this,'' he said.