Cristiano's glorious seventh-minute effort proved enough to secure Adelaide United fifth spot in the Club World Cup after seeing off Al Ahly in Yokohama.

It was a goal deserving of winning the contest and the $2.16m prizemoney that went with it.

"I had two chances and scored one goal which was good but the important thing is that we won the match," Cristiano said later.

For Al Ahly it was a disappointing end to a tournament that has finished way below their expectations.

As the dominant force in Africa over recent seasons, the Egyptians were expecting to reach the semi-finals and even run LDU Quito close in the battle to reach Sunday's decider.

But their lack of a killer punch has been exposed and after surrendering a two-goal lead to Pachuca on Sunday they failed to force their way back into this contest after falling behind to Cristiano's early strike despite dominating possession in the second half.

In contrast, the game in Australia continues to grow, with Adelaide's performances giving encouragement to the newly-expanded A-League.

With many of Australia's star names earning their living in Europe it will be gratifying that Adelaide have finished fifth, showing dramatic improvement in a single goal quarter-final loss to Gamba Osaka, who put five past them in last month's Asian Champions League Final.

They held Al Ahly fairly comfortably once Cristiano had put them in front in fine style.

Picking the ball up on Adelaide's left, the Brazilian embarked on a solo burst which took him within shooting range and he duly fired a superb effort past Amir Abdelhamid.

Indeed, the Australians might have had a second through Sasa Ognenovski but this time Abdelhamid made a fine save.

Al Ahly's best chance of an equaliser came eight minutes from time, only for Eugene Galekovic's flying stop to deny Mohammed Barakat.

The result was a pleasing finale to the tournament for United, who finished with two wins and a loss in their three games.

Coach Aurelio Vidmar stated after the match that the Reds' effort to finish fifth would do wonders for the game back in Adelaide and Australia.

PA Sport