Rio Ferdinand insists Manchester United cannot afford to get distracted by thoughts of being world champions.
United are a single victory away from being crowned number one on the planet following Thursday's eventful victory over Gamba Osaka in Yokohama.
Most bookmakers will also make them odds-on favourites to win the decider too against relatively unknown South American outfit LDU Quito.
But Ferdinand does not feel United can just assume they will triumph because their opponents are from Ecuador, rather than the traditional South American powerhouses Brazil and Argentina.
‘When Liverpool came here in 2005, they won their first match by three goals and still lost the final. The following year Barcelona won their first match by four and then lost as well,’ observed the England defender.
‘We will not be jumping ahead of ourselves and thinking it will be easy to win this competition because it won't.
‘You have to be a good team to win the Copa Libertadores no matter where you come from. We know the pressure is on to perform well and we will have to be at the top of our game.’
Nevertheless, it is expected Alex Ferguson will make changes as United have a Premier League game they need to win at Stoke a week today if they are to maintain momentum in the bid to win a third successive title.
Not that changes necessarily mean the Red Devils will be a weakened team for the meeting with Quito, especially as Wayne Rooney is one of the men likely to come in.
Rooney was only involved for 18 minutes in the semi-final. But they were the best 18 minutes of United's 5-3 win, the England striker scoring twice and getting himself booked in a spectacular finale.
And, after watching his international team-mate take his tally for the season to nine, Ferdinand is in no doubt Rooney is destined for the very top.
‘Maybe it has had to be drilled into him but Wayne is playing more like an orthodox centre-forward for us and, given time, he could easily be the best in the world,’ said Ferdinand.
‘He has the capability without a doubt.
‘He has more tools in his box than any other number nine in the world.
‘I have every confidence in him. It is just a matter of him being given the time and I am sure he will put it into practice.’
Rooney certainly appears to be enjoying himself and after living in the shadows of Cristiano
Ronaldo for the past couple of seasons, he now seems ready to join the Ballon d'Or winner at the very highest level of the game.
Ferdinand believes so, just as he feels if Rooney really puts his mind to it, he can achieve what
Ronaldo did last term by finishing top of the goal-scoring charts.
‘Sometimes he needs to be more selfish,’ observed the former West Ham star.
‘I feel he is capable of getting 25 or 30 goals a season.
‘I know how difficult Wayne can be to play against and if he continues to keep working in the right areas he can be top scorer in the Premier League.
‘But in order to achieve it, you must have a certain amount of selfishness and he probably needs it a little bit more.’
