WITH the countdown well underway to England's World Cup quarter-final with Brazil on Friday morning, Hereford United fans may well be casting their minds back to the times when some of the stars on view lined up against the Bulls, writes RICHARD PRIME.

In all, five of the England and Brazil players have featured in competitive fixtures against United in recent seasons.

Hereford fans will hardly need reminding that the mercurial Brazilian Juninho was one of the architects of Middlesborough's 7-0 League Cup victory over United at the Riverside Stadium back in 1996-7, United's final season in the Football League.

And, remarkably, four of the players likely to play a role for England on Friday have also played against Hereford.

Fans are, however, likely to need a long memory to stretch back the 20 years since a promising young goalkeeper called David Seaman figured for Peterborough United in four Division Four fixtures between 1982 and 1984.

When Tottenham Hotspur claimed a fortunate 1-1 draw in the third round of the FA Cup at Edgar Street back in 1996, one of the few players to demonstrate Premier League quality was the young Sol Campbell.

But his team-mate Teddy Sheringham sparkled in the replay with a hat-trick as Spurs romped to a 5-1 victory.

For Sheringham, it was a second appearance against United as he also grabbed one of the goals for Nottingham Forest in a 2-0 victory over the Bulls at the City Ground back in 1992.

The quartet is completed by one Emile Ivanhoe Heskey who was well shackled by Ian Wright and Tony James when Leicester City fought out a goalless draw at Edgar Street at the end of 1999.

In the replay, Muzzy Izzet, who will also be featuring in the World Cup quarter-finals for Turkey, grabbed an extra-time winner for the Foxes.

Efetobore Sodje, one of the stars of the Nigerian side which was eliminated at the group stages, also played at Edgar Street as part of the Stevenage side beaten by the Bulls in a first round FA Cup tie in 1995.