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Jim McLean's class side drew 1-1 in the Macedonian capital and progressed to the third round thanks to a 2-0 first leg win at Tannadice. And when Stanic got the call from Antonio Calderon asking him to move to Raith Rovers last season the memories of that match came flooding back.
You'd think a Macedonian might be in the dark about Scottish football but the full-back said: 'I was well aware of football in this country. Naturally, you hear about Rangers and Celtic all over the world but for me Dundee United were the first team I'd heard of in Scotland.
'In 1985 my club Vardar Skopje played them and I went to the second game 'United were a top team and left a good impression on me of Scottish football.
'So when Antonio made me an offer to sign for Raith I thought back to that game.
'In fact Gordon Wallace was my coach at Stark's Park and we spoke about the match because he was assistant manager of Dundee United at that time.'
Stanic began his career with Vardar and also had a spell at Rangers' one-time Euro foes Maribor of Slovenia as well as Red Belgrade in Serbia where he faced Dragan Mladenovic.
But it was the result of two years in Spain with First Division side Lleida that eventually saw Goran move to Scotland.
In Spain he played with Calderon whose departure from Raith prompted Stanic's summer switch to West Lothian.
And while Livi are underdogs against Hearts today there's no chance of Goran feeling a result is beyond the Lions.
He recalled the time he put the shackles on Luis Figo during a game for Lleida against Barcelona and while his minnows eventually lost on penalties Stanic knows anything can happen.
The twice-capped star said: 'Hearts will be difficult but we shouldn't think a win is beyond us. Barcelona had players such as Rivaldo and Luis Enrique at the time and even Figo who I was playing against and played quite well. He was quiet in the match.
'They were expected to win easily but it went to penalties and although I scored with mine Barca eventually won.'
Livi manager Allan Preston said: 'We have played well this season but stupid mistakes have cost us and if we can cut that out today I'm sure we'll have the chance of a result.' Meanwhile, Jamie McAllister, right, admitted he would still be a Livingston player if the club had made him an offer in the summer.
But as the Hearts star prepares to face his old mates for the first time this afternoon, still high from Thursday night's Euro triumph over Braga, he knows he did the right thing by bailing out.
McAllister was one of the Livi heroes who beat all the odds to lift the CIS Cup last term.
He scored the clincher in a 2-0 final win over favourites Hibs and was gutted when the club's plunge into administration left him in limbo and eventually forced him to walk away.
Mac said: 'It will be strange facing Livi - I still speak to the lads a lot and pop into the ground to see Allan Preston and the guys.
'I had a great year with Livi but that won't stop me wanting to come out on top now I've made the move that mattered and I'm a Hearts player.'
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The Gorgie side drew 2-2 with Sporting Braga in Portugal on Thursday night to put themselves into the lucrative group stage of the Uefa Cup.
Lovell is hoping the energy expended by the Jambos, who did not arrive back into Edinburgh until the early hours of Friday morning, can give the visitors a slight advantage when the two teams meet.
However, the former Hibs midfielder knows it will not be easy for Livi, who have not yet reached the heights of last season.
He said: "We're not blowing hot and cold at the moment, we're just cold! We've been struggling in recent weeks and we thought our victory over Dundee in the CIS Insurance Cup would have been a springboard but then we lost to Motherwell.
"So we've got to be looking for any encouragement. Hearts were away in Europe and that might be a good thing because we have had a full week to prepare."
& used will full permission of Livingston FC