Rooney scores his first goal as United reached the Club World Cup final after beating Gamba Osaka 5-3.
United had already established superiority over their opponents thanks to first-half headers from Nemanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo.
But Rooney's arrival led to a frenzied spell of six goals in 18 minutes, the England striker netting either side of a Darren Fletcher effort as the European champions kept spirited Gamba resistance at bay.
Asian champions Gamba started brightly, but were undone when Vidic was left unmarked at the far post to head home a Ryan Giggs corner.
More poor marking allowed United to double their lead on the stroke of half-time. Again Giggs was the provider with another accurate set-piece, with Ronaldo on hand to power home his 10th goal of the campaign -- but his first in five weeks.
Rooney was introduced 18 minutes from time but before he had even touched the ball, Gamba pulled one back through Masato Yamazaki.
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But it just proved to be the prelude to a blistering spell of United attacking, in which Darren Fletcher nodded home a third United headed goal either side of a Rooney double. First the England international shrugged off Sota Nakazawa to finish, then he collected Giggs' pass to slot home.
However, there was still time for Endo to stroke home a calmly-taken penalty after Gary Neville was penalized for handball.
Then, just before the final whistle, Hideo Hashimoto pulled another goal back for the plucky Japanese side.
After the game, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson heaped praised on Osaka. "The people got their money's worth, that's for sure. Their movement on the ball was very good and it shows you much Japanese football has improved.
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