YOKOHAMA - CRISTIANO Ronaldo and Gary Neville admit Manchester United must do better if they are to win the Club World Cup following their pulsating 5-3 victory over Japan's Gamba Osaka.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side are into Sunday's final against South American champions Liga de Quito but the long trip to Japan and the inevitable jet lag was telling as they tired in the last 20 minutes on Thursday.

During that time concentration lapsed on both sides and an amazing six goals were scored, with captain Neville concerned that United leaked three late in the game.

'The main thing is we're in the final and we have a great chance to win it,' he said.

'We played some good football and caused them a lot of problems, but we got sloppy at the end, and as a defender you feel very disappointed because we've conceded three goals.'

Neville, coming back from injury, was preferred by Ferguson ahead of young Brazilian Rafael at right-back and played 90 minutes, boosting his confidence despite conceding a second-half penalty.

'I was glad to get more minutes under my belt, but I was frustrated by the penalty - I didn't think it was (deliberate handball),' he said.

The match turned into a classic with a six-goal spurt in 17 second half-minutes.

Nemanja Vidic and Ronaldo got themselves on the scoresheet in the first half before Masato Yamazaki pulled one back for Gamba with 18 minutes left.

That sparked a goal-scoring frenzy with Wayne Rooney bagging two in quick succession and Darren Fletcher getting another, while Yasuhito Endo and Hideo Hashimoto hit the mark for the J-League stalwarts.

Ronaldo, linked once again in the media with a move to Real Madrid that sparked an angry retort from Ferguson at the Spanish giants, said the team was disappointed to concede so many goals but delighted to be in the final.

'For us, it was a little bit disappointing to concede three, but it was a very open game,' he told FIFA.com.

'Sometimes in a match you score a lot of goals, but you concede them as well - and that's what happened. But for us, the most important thing was the victory.

'I think in the last 20 minutes we tired a lot, which affected our concentration. The jet lag affected us a little bit, but I think that was only to be expected.'

Ferguson felt United dominated the match and highlighted some crucial saves by Edwin Van der Sar for keeping them in front.

'For me Edwin Van der Sar was our best player, his saves helped secure the victory for us,' he said of the Dutch veteran who was recently handed a contract extension.

'We are in the final and I think we deserve to be there.

'We had some defensive lapses but I'm hopeful they'll be ironed out by Sunday and we will be in better shape.' Looking ahead to the threat posed by Ecuador's Liga, who beat Mexican powerhouse Pachuca 2-0 to reach the final, Ferguson said any game against South American opponents was tough.

'My experience against South American teams is that it is always difficult and it will be difficult on Sunday,' he said.

'Liga are a competitive team, mobile and they defend well. It won't be easy, that's for sure.' -- AFP