YOKOHAMA, Japan — Wayne Rooney came off the bench to score twice in a span of four minutes as European champion Manchester United defeated Japan's Gamba Osaka 5-3 on Thursday to advance to the final of the Club World Cup.

United will play South American champions Liga de Quito in Sunday's final.

"The people got their money's worth, that's for sure," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "Their movement on the ball was very good and it shows you much Japanese football has improved."

The English Premier Club's first-half goals came in identical fashion, with Ryan Giggs corners from the right headed home by Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic and European Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo.

Gamba showed creditable attacking intent in the second half rather than settle for an honorable draw, and was rewarded when Masato Yamazaki finished expertly in the 74th minute from a well-worked move down the right flank, sparking a flood of goals.

United restored its two-goal buffer straight from the kickoff as Rooney scored with his first touch of the ball in the 75th minute. The England international chested down a pass from at the edge of the, shook off a defender and shot across the advancing keeper.

Darren Fletcher made it 4-1 in the 78th as the midfielder ghosted into the area to head home.

It was 5-1 just a minute later when Rooney slotted home, but Gamba refused to roll over and United keeper Edwin Van der Sar had to be sharp on a number of occasions to protect the advantage.

Ferguson had high praise for Rooney.

"His movement, strength and penetration are very good," Ferguson said. "The goal that really killed them was the third one."

Gamba playmaker Yasuhito Endo calmly converted a penalty in the 85th minute after fullback Gary Neville was adjudged to have used his arm in blocking an attempted cross.

Hideo Hashimoto rifled home a powerful shot in the final minute to enable the Asian champions to leave with heads high despite the loss.

In Thursday's playoff for fifth place, forward Cristiano scored a superb goal in the seventh minute to give Australia's Adelaide United a 1-0 win over Egypt's Al Ahly.

After stripping an Al Ahly defender of the ball, Cristiano rifled a right-footed blast from the top of the area past a diving Al Ahly goalkeeper Amir Abdelhamid.