It has always been the case that Wayne Rooney could play a variety of roles for Manchester United: as a striker, in the hole, wide on either flank. Now he has taken to composing songs for the Stretford End.

“In Yokohama this week, you could hear the fans who have travelled over to support us singing ‘champions of England, champions of Europe’ so it will be great if after Sunday they can add ‘champions of the world’ as a third line,” he said. “That would sound even better.” OK, so it is not exactly Leonard Cohen, but Rooney has a point. Champions of the world scans and is exactly how United view themselves on planet football, which is why they get so ticked off when Real Madrid treat them like a feeder club.

The Club World Cup may be regarded as something of a midwinter break back home — a bit rich from the league that proposes something as utterly random as a 39th game — but the more United’s players get a sense of it, the more apparent it becomes that this is a prize they are determined to win. After all, which sportsman would not value a medal with the legend “world champion”?

“When I joined United, playing in a tournament like this never crossed my mind,” Rooney said. “Obviously the main aim at the time was to win the Premier League and the Champions League. Only then do you get the chance to play in the Club World Cup, so it is not something you think about.

“It is an ambition to have the complete set of winner’s medals. I’ve got the Champions League, two Premier League titles, the Carling Cup and the Community Shield already. I was disappointed to lose the European Super Cup earlier in the season and I have lost two FA Cup Finals, so the Club World Cup medal is something I am desperate to get because who knows when you get the chance again?”

It has been interesting to watch the world-weariness fade from United like first-day jet lag and see their players become genuinely enthused by the prospect of world champion status. Part of that is down, as ever, to Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, who has always valued the challenge of inter-continental competition and would never allow United to be embarrassed on the international stage, as Liverpool were against Flamengo, of Brazil, in Tokyo in 1981, underprepared and losing 3-0. Yet as football goes global, just as significant are the voices of foreign players in dressing-rooms and the knowledge that, on the Continent, tournaments that the British view as irrelevant sit among the most treasured honours in the game.

When Liverpool reached the European Super Cup final against Bayern Munich in 2001, Gérard Houllier told his English players that he had taken the League Cup final seriously because they said it mattered to them, now they must do the same for him, because the Super Cup is an important trophy in France. Liverpool won 3-2.

“In Holland, this is live on television whether there is a Dutch team in it or not,” Edwin van der Sar, the United goalkeeper, said. “When I won it with Ajax in 1995, when it was the Toyota Cup, it felt great. I never became a world champion with my national team, but I did with my club.”

Tomorrow’s opponents will be Liga de Quito, the first Copa Libertadores champions to emerge from Ecuador. Edgardo Bauza, the coach and a former Argentina defender famous for scoring 80 goals in 310 league matches, a record that would make some strikers proud, is so taken with the drama of the event that he has announced he will be leaving the club after the tournament has finished. “We will be kings of the world,” he predicted. “We will not be satisfied until that happens. Already we are one of the best two teams in the world, but we want more.”

Leaving aside the logic of Bauza’s argument, which would make the winners of the losing semi-finalist play-off between Gamba Osaka and Pacucha, of Mexico, the third-best team in the world — and Adelaide United the fifth because, unbelievably, losing quarter-finalists play off, too — Liga de Quito deserve respect after defeating Fluminese, of Brazil, in the Copa Libertadores final.

“I played for France against Ecuador recently, so I know Quita will play good football,” Patrice Evra, the United defender, said. “We have to be ready if we are to be champions of the world.”

Gary Neville, the defender, was, as ever, the most realistic. “We don’t regard this as a big tournament in our country and even at our club we are guilty of thinking that way at times,” he said. “But you see the way the Italians or the Spanish celebrate when they win it and this is the biggest thing for them.”

Champions of England, champions of Europe, champions of the world. Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Club World Cup.

Television: Live on Five from 10.20am (kick-off 10.30am).

Not to be sneezed at

Sir Alex Ferguson said on Thursday that he would not sell Real Madrid a virus, but Times Sport suggests an infectious XI the United manager may consider trading to the Spanish club.

Edwin van der Sars — Hepa-Titus Bramble, Sami Herpes, Lassana Diarrhoea, Kiki Mumps-sampa — Dele Ad-Ebola, Kris Commons Cold, Tore Andre Flu, Polio di Canio — Craig Ru-Bellamy, Ruel Pox. Substitute: DaMarcus Measley.