Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson accepts fans aren't overly excited about this week's Club World Championship bid.

"I remember (Luiz Felipe) Scolari made a comment after the press conference when we beat them (Palmeiras) that he was surprised how casual we were about winning it," recalled Ferguson of their 1999 Intercontinental Cup triumph.

"There were no wild celebrations but that was just the nature of the team at the time possibly, we were delighted to win it.

"It is the world championship but it is not highlighted the same way as in other countries, particularly South America."

Captain Gary Neville, a survivor from the embarrassing 2000 edition, believes the current crop of players are more than capable of winning the tournament and then returning to retain their Premier League title.

"I think this is a better squad than in 1999-2000. That was a good squad but if you look at the numbers and quality in this squad, now that there are seven players on the bench, and you look at the players in the stands [it is better]," he said.

"In 1999/2000 we maybe had 18 players, now we have 22 to 25 and all of them more than capable international players.

"It is healthy for the club we have three or four players for different positions and they are all internationals in their own right."