Shinji Ono catches up with former Feyenoord teammate Robin van Persie on Sydney Harbour

IT was the moment that two old teammates caught up in the most unlikely circumstances - and one of the world's most famous footballers proved he doesn't forget those who were part of his journey.

Eleven years after they won the UEFA Cup together, Manchester United star Robin van Persie and Wanderers marquee man Shinji Ono were reunited on the harbour on Thursday, and van Persie needed little excuse to pour praise on his old friend.

Van Persie, Ono and Brett Emerton were teammates at Feyenoord when they secured European glory in 2002, and though fitness concerns mean Ono won't face United for the All-Stars on Saturday, he was keen to spend a few minutes catching up.

"We have really good memories together," van Persie said.

"We go back 10 years now, 10 or 11 years, we won the UEFA Cup together and he was very good to me when I was very young. I came to the first team at Feyenoord when I was very young and he really looked after me.

"You can compare him with Shinji (Kagawa, United's current Japanese star), the way they play, very quick, technical, good vision.

"He was a very nice guy and very helpful, especially to the younger players. I was quite young, 18, 19, 20, and we used to go for dinner together and have a good time.

"He is a great guy."

Ono, of course, struggled with injuries in following seasons before returning to Japan, then a three-year stint in Germany before ultimately ending up in Western Sydney.

Van Persie, by contrast, spent eight years at Arsenal before winning the EPL last year with United.

The one regret van Persie had from those Feyenoord days stems from the aftermath of the UEFA Cup triumph, soured by events that had nothing to do with football.

"It was a very special moment," he said.

"Back then it was a bit of a weird day. The day before the final a politician (Pim Fortuyn) died in a bit of a bad way. When we won that game against Dortmund the whole city was in a bit of a strange mood because of what happened, so everyone was up and down. So we didn't really celebrate as much as we wanted to."

Meanwhile, the man who will face van Persie's brilliance, All-Stars defender Michael Beauchamp, insists he is having no nerves ahead of Saturday night's game.

The A-League All Star says he will treat Saturday's likely match-up against Manchester United's van Persie as just another game.

"I'm not going to go about business any different than if I was playing a 16-year-old," Beauchamp said.

"I've still got to defend the same way and go about the positioning (the same way).

"I'm looking forward to it."