As England prepare to face Northern Ireland, Rachel Brown looks back on her appearance for the All-stars.

England Women v Northern Ireland
UEFA European Championship 2009 Qualifier
1pm, Sunday 13 May, Priestfield Stadium
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England Women v Iceland
International Friendly
7.45pm, Thursday 17 May, Roots Hall
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It was fitting that after keeping goal with such confidence throughout England's successful World Cup Qualification campaign, Rachel Brown was chosen to be part of the FIFA All-star team that played an exhibition game against China prior to the draw in Wuhan.

Hope Powell coached the All-stars, and together with Brown they represented England as the world watched on. The honour of representing her country in such an occasion was something very special for Brown.

"It was the most incredible experience of my life, a moment that I will never forget," She told TheFA.com.

"To play in such a game, with so many fantastic players was just incredible and to be able to train with Bente Norby was amazing."

Working with the experienced stopper Norby was a chance that Brown was not going to pass up.

"She is one of those players that you can learn so much from, and I didn't stop asking her questions for a second when we were training.

"I just knew that her knowledge would help me so much that I had to get as much out of it as I could."

Playing against China, and working with players from as far afield as Australia, South America and Africa, Brown was able to glean a deeper insight into world football.

"It was not only an honour, but a fantastic insight to see so many players with different styles of player and various attributes.

"That will only help England, the more teams from different continents that we are exposed to before September the better.

"Certainly looking at China, you have to say that they will never give up and they proved that with their late winner. The fans were incredible and I just can't wait for the World Cup now!"

The spirit amongst the players also heartened Brown during the time she spent there.

"The atmosphere amongst the players was fantastic, especially considering how short a period of time we had together, and the credit for that has to go to Hope and Tina Theune-Meyer who coached us.

"Considering how far afield the players all came from, they did fantastically well to get everyone gelled together, not only on the pitch but on the training field as well."

The game itself was a thriller with China winning 3-2 in front of 31,000 fans just 24 hours before the draw pulled out another meeting between England and Germany.

There have been suggestions recently that the World and European Champions are less of a force than they once were, but Brown does not agree with that view at all.

"You write Germany off at your peril," Rachel told TheFA.com, "as at this level they have a lot of players who've been in major finals, and that is invaluable once the tournament starts.

"Players like Birgit Prinz, Renate Lingor and Silke Rottenberg have an amazing number of medals between them and even when you get older, you never lose your technical ability."

Tickets for both games are on sale now priced £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions.

Tickets can be purchased from the Gillingham FC ticket office or by calling the ticket hotline on 01634 3000 000 – option 3

Tickets can also be purchased from the Southend United FC ticket office, or by calling the ticket hotline on 08444 77 00 77

Special group discounts are available for groups of over 15, with tickets costing just £1 per person.