YOKOHAMA, Japan: Manchester United can now claim to be the best club on earth, as well as one of the richest. A solitary goal, crafted with almost nonchalant cheek by Cristiano Ronaldo and scored by Wayne Rooney, landed the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday.

United, the champion of Europe, beat Liga de Quito, the first Ecuadorean team to be champion of South America, 1-0, in the final in Japan. The English team returns home during Christmas week, bearing the most extravagant of trophies, but nursing a penalty that could cost it dear come February.

It played virtually the entire second half a man short after Nemanja Vidic was sent off for a petulant, if half-hearted elbow aimed at the Quito player Claudio Bieler. The elbow barely brushed the cheek, but the Uzbek referee, Ravshan Irmatov, rightly issued a red card and, as a consequence, United will not be allowed to field its big Serbian defender when it meets Inter Milan in the next round of the Champions League.

In financial terms, the victory in Japan is worth $5 million in prize money to United. The loss in Europe, should it come to that, could be worth 10 times that sum. Before that tournament recommences in the new year, United must quickly reacclimatize to the English league, where it will face Stoke, the most bruising team in the Premiership, on Friday.

No rest and no respite for the champion.