1993 Under-18s European Championship
The quiet teenagers help England beat Turkey in the final. Sol is at Spurs, Scholesy at Man Utd.

1997 - Full England team-mates
Scholesy makes his England debut against South Africa at Old Trafford. Naturally, Sol is there alongside him, winning his sixth cap.

1998 - First World Cup
Just five years after being under-18s team-mates, they represent England in the biggest show on earth. Scholesy scores in England's opening win against Tunisia, but Sol is denied by a linesman's flag in the epic 2-2 draw v Argentina, which England lost on penalties.

Euro 2000
A disappointing tournament, but the pair help England beat Germany 1-0 - our first competitive win against them since 1966.

2001 - Glory and club rivalry
The old mates play in the unforgettable 5-1 win in Munich. Their club rivalry also takes on a new twist when Sol joins Arsenal from Spurs.

World Cup 2002
Both ever-presents in Japan. Campbell scores England's opening goal against Sweden.

2003 - Sol upsets United
An elbow from Campbell hits Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Sol says it was accidental but Unitd are incensed. However, they get an important 2-2 draw at Highbury and win the title.

Sol Campbell and Paul Scholes have been the quiet men behind many major events in English football over the past decade.

They have played in World Cups and European Championships together and been on opposite sides in the fierce Manchester United-Arsenal rivalry.

Their first connection though came back in 1993 when a highly-talented young England side won the Under-18s European Championships.

David Beckham was the right age but wasn't considered good enough to be part of the squad which also boasted Robbie Fowler, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt.

Campbell and Scholes were naturals though. Big Sol was used as both centre-forward and centre-half by Spurs while Scholes was the shy one pulling the strings.

"He was so quiet, nobody noticed Scholesy - except the other players. We could all see how good he was going to be," recalls the team's captain Darren Caskey.

Progress was swift after that. By the time Scholes made his England debut just four years later in 1997, Campbell was already first-choice centre-back. Since then, they have been two of the first names on the teamsheets of successive England managers Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Sven Goran Eriksson.

When Campbell joined Arsenal in 2001, he and Scholes instantly became part of the biggest club rivalry in the English game. Sol drew first blood with The Gunners winning the Double at the end of his first season.

But last season Scholes fought back, scoring 20 goals as United regained the Premiership.

Both are lynchpins for club and country. "Scholes is a thinker, he could make a good manager," says the impressed Sven Goran Eriksson.

As for Campbell, reliability is his forte. The only England player to make the ultimate World Cup squad selected by Fifa after the 2002 World Cup, he has even filled in at right-back for his country.

He says: "The England team spirit is always a big thing - you go to away games with the crowd against you and you all look at each other and say 'let's go out and get a result.'"

For years, Scholes and Campbell have the been the quiet hub of the England side, as important as the more glamorous names like David Beckham and Michael Owen.

That will all be forgotten on Sunday though. Arsenal are still smarting from being pipped by United for the championship. "We are feeling good in ourselves and are determined to go one better," insists Campbell. His mate Scholesy might have something to say about that.

by Joe Bernstein

Related Items

Click here to go to the FA Community Shield Match Centre...

This article also appears in the FA Community Shield programme. Click here to buy a copy...