Vidic red card mars United's mastery of the world

Wayne Rooyney's superb 73rd-minute strike gave 10-man Manchester United a hard-fought victory over Ecuador's Liga de Quito in the Club World Cup final here yesterday.

United became the first British winners of the Fifa tournament following Liverpool's failure in 2005 when they were ambushed by Brazil's Sao Paulo. The European champions overcame a moment of madness from Nemanja Vidic, who was sent off four minutes into the second half for elbowing the Quito striker Claudio Bieler in the face.

"The sending-off made it difficult for us," the United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. "Half an hour to go is a long road with 10 men but Wayne scored a magnificent goal. In 30 years you'll look back and see Manchester United's name on the trophy – although I won't be around to enjoy it."

Vidic's red card is a major blow to Ferguson as he will miss United's next Champions League game, away to Internazionale in February in the first leg of the last 16. "It's a soft sending-off but he swung an elbow," Ferguson said. "He gave the referee no option."

Vidic's ban could be extended to three matches should the incident be deemed violent conduct. "It depends how Fifa interpret it and how Uefa act," Ferguson added. "Vidic is disappointed but the referee was correct to produce the red card."

The Serbian defender's dismissal sparked Ferguson's side into life and Rooney fired the winner with a clinical right-foot shot after a magical flick from Cristiano Ronaldo.

"We're the best team in the world," said Rooney, who was named player of the tournament after scoring twice in United's 5-3 semi-final win over Japan's Gamba Osaka. "If we hadn't won, it would have been difficult going back home. We would probably have been on a downer and it would have had a knock-on effect.

"Now we can go back with lots of confidence. I just looked at my phone and I had a message saying 'congratulations – you're a world champion'. To score the winning goal is a great feeling." Ronaldo, the victim of persistent rough treatment from Libertadores Cup holders Quito, was a constant threat as United dominated a match watched by almost 69,000 fans.

Rooney, Park Ji-Sung and Carlos Tevez all went close. United still had to survive late Quito pressure, with the goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar forced into an excellent fingertip save from Alejandro Manso's fierce drive in the 89th minute.

"Unbelievable!" said the United captain Rio Ferdinand. "We're elated. It's been a hard trip but winning softens any feelings of tiredness."

Ferguson's side won the tournament's forerunner, a one-off match between the champions of Europe and South America, with a 1-0 win over Brazilian side Palmeiras in 1999.

Goal: Rooney (73) 1-0.

Manchester United (4-4-2): Van der Sar; Rafael (Neville, 85), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Park, Carrick, Anderson (Fletcher, 88), Ronaldo; Tevez (Evans, 51), Rooney. Substitutes not used: Kuszczak, Berbatov, Giggs, Nani, Scholes, Welbeck, O'Shea, Gibson, Amos.

Liga de Quito (4-4-2): Cevallos; Campos, Calle (Ambrosi, 77), N Araujo, Calderon; Reasco (Larrea, 82), W Araujo, Urrutia, Bolanos (Navia, 88); Manso, Bieler. Substitutes not used: Dominguez, Obregon, Delgado, Eder Vaca, Danny Vaca, Chango, Viteri.

Referee: R Irmatov (Uzbekistan).