It has been a long and tortuous road, punctuated by alarming gaffes at the most inappropriate times, but David Seaman can now justifiably call himself an England legend.

Those who claim England's world-class players number four - Messrs Beckham, Owen, Ferdinand and Gerrard - are guilty of a snub bordering on the ignorant.

Sweden's Teddy Lucic and Mauricio Pochettino of Argentina would willingly give Seaman a character reference after he foiled them in the group stages.

Jorg Bohme, too, can vouch for 38-year-old Seaman's staying power at the highest level after his crucial save when England were level at 1-1 with Germany last September.

But the man dubbed 'Safe Hands' has always had his doubters; critics who argue his name rests uneasily next to those of Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton in the pantheon of English goalkeeping greats.

They recall Nayim's 50-yard shot that caught Seaman off his line to snatch the 1995 European Cup Winners' Cup from Arsenal's grasp.

Ronald Koeman's dink over the England wall, denying Seaman's country a place in the 1994 World Cup finals, sparked chants of "Where were you when Koeman scored?" from fans across the land. And should Paul Gascoigne have beaten him from 35 yards in the 1991 FA Cup semi-final?

But after lengthy debate about his fitness, and concerns that he was past his best, Seaman has been among the precious few goalkeepers to cover themselves in glory in this World Cup.

Sven-Goran Eriksson said: "David Seaman still has the desire.

"He's very keen on working. He's very precise in his work, what he eats, how to live and so on.

"He is still very fit and quick, and you cannot buy experience.

"Whether he carries on until the Euro 2004 finals is very much up to him and up to Arsene Wenger as to whether he plays regular football for Arsenal.

"One day, players with that amount of experience wake up and aren't hungry any more, and that's it.

"One day you are not prepared any more to live the life, always dieting, taking care of your weight and training. But so far I can't see any signs of that with David Seaman."

His opposite number today comes from a less successful stable.

When England had Banks, Brazil had Felix.

If England's keeper was nicknamed the Banks of England, then Felix gave away goals like cashpoints dole out money.

Current Brazilian custodian Marcos has not embarrassed himself in the finals - yet - but one can't help but feeling Brazil still employ the law of the playground in deciding their keeper.

That is, they pick their best 11 players - and put the worst in goal.

While Brazil are lauded for their free-flowing attacking play, their vulnerability at the back is often ignored.

As is their failure to discover a world-class goalkeeper fit to play with world-class teammates.

England have no problems on that front. Seaman has already had a glittering career - he now stands just 270 minutes from being rightly recognised as a legend.