2008 Fifa Club World Cup Final 2008 Fifa Club World Cup Final

2008 Fifa Club World Cup Final

Liga de Quito 0 Manchester United 1

Manchester United won both the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League in 2008 and it was the winning of the latter that saw them qualify for entry into the 2008 Fifa Club World Cup. They were spared playing in the quarter finals and given entry into the competition at the semi final stage. Manchester United defeated Gamba Osaka of Japan 5-3 in their semi final of the 2008 Fifa Club World Cup to line up a meeting in the final with Liga de Quito of Ecuador. The 2008 Fifa Club World Cup final was ultimately dominated by Manchester United with Liga de Quito's best chance coming early on when Jairo Campos made contact with an Alejandro Manso free kick, but, although the shot was from close range it went wide. The South American champions were put under increasing pressure from that moment onwards with their keeper Cevallos being forced to make three very good saves in the first 20 minutes of the 2008 Fifa Club World Cup final.

Cristiano Ronaldo was a great crowd pleaser for those who witnessed the 2008 Fifa Club World Cup final, his trademark stepovers were very evident and he performed a variety of tricks to impress the crowd at the Yokohama International Stadium. Manchester United created a string of chances only to be foiled by the safe hands of keeper Cevallos. The half ended with a poor miss by United 's Park and the teams went in level at 0-0. The second half of the 2008 Fifa Club World Cup final started badly for Manchester United with Nemanja Vidic red carded after just 4 minutes following a clash with Bieler. The dismissal of Vidic forced manager Sir Alex Ferguson to reshuffle his players and Carlos Tevez's position was sacrificed in order to bring on replacement defender Jonny Evans. The 10 man Manchester United continued to dominate the play and they still looked the most likely to score and 17 minutes from time they made the breakthrough.

Throughout the Fifa Club World Cup final Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney had been Manchester United's standout players and it was they who combined to break the deadlock. Ronaldo set up Rooney who shot from the edge of the penalty area which beat keeper Cevallos into the far corner of the net. The Ecuadorian side finally applied some pressure onto the English Premier League Champions but it was to no avail and as the final whistle blew Manchester United were crowned 2008 Fifa Club World Cup champions.

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Park, Carrick, Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez (Evans), Anderson (Fletcher), Rafael (Neville)

Lida de Quito: Cevallos, N Araujo, Calle, Bolanos, Urrutia, Reasco, Calderon, W Araujo, Bieler, Manso, Campos